The Legend of Roland
by X2117
Summary: Two Spartans drop into Korra's world, turning it upside down. Sequel to Headhunters: In the Beginning Rated T for Violence
1. Prolouge

**The Legend of Roland- **

**Alright, this is by far the longest fanfic I have ever written. I started watching LOK right after I finished writing my first fanfic and decided that this would be an interesting way to combine two of my favorite things. This may be a little choppy, but please review! **

**Prologue**

_Pain. There is nothing right now but pain. My shoulder is throbbing, I can't feel my arm or hand and every breath is nearly impossible to get. _

"_This place is dead anyway." That is the last thing I remember hearing. My owns words were resounding in my ears as the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and blood splashed on the inside of my visor. It doesn't belong there. That is my blood. Blood is supposed to go on the outside from my slain foes not inside my visor. My eyes shut to try to block out the pain. _

_Did I freeze again? Did Jonah survive? I have to open my eyes…. _

Roland fought his eyes opened. His throat felt like it was on fire with the rest of his body. He saw Jonah crouch slightly and heard something over the shared comms. "Let's start this party. I'm late for a hot date, and I don't want to keep your sister waiting." Roland tried to grin. He tried to say anything to Jonah, even if it was just his final parting shout to his only friend and brother in arms.

_I'm not saying you're a bad guy Jay, I just wouldn't trust you with my kids. _

Roland regretted each of those words. Oh how he wished he could take them back. He wished this was all just a retarded exercise and the armor lockup was slowly wearing off, but it wasn't. He was dying and he knew it.

Roland saw the Elites who had been his death. They stalked forward, ready to kill his squad mate. Jonah said some other stuff but the pain was too great for Roland to notice. The only thing he saw was Jonah look directly at him, then back at the Elites. "….got a deal?" Resounded in Roland's ears as a detonator flew through the air, landing next to the stationary Elites. Roland watched as his HUD disappeared just like the Elite's energy shields. Bullets riddled the lead Elite as Jonah dodged one of the two Elites who closed on him, but the other grabbed him by the wrist. Roland heard Jonah scream in pain.

A sword flashed red across Jonah's visor. Another scream. Roland looked, willing his body to move. He had to help in some way, but his body wouldn't, couldn't move. The second sword wielding Elite stepped up and held Jonah by the neck, about to run him through with the sword.

_Rolle, light 'em up. _

_Apes or Gators? _

_You softened him up. _

_Yeah, well, this disease ain't goin nowhere._

_It was a rhetorical question. _

As Roland lay, crumpled next to the Covenant facility, he swore he could hear Jonah mutter 'blow stuff up' one last time as the world around them began to explode. He saw the fire over take Jonah and the two Elites and roll over the other four. He felt the heat through the breaches in his armor and felt another explosion behind him. A flash, pain that felt as if his guts were being ripped apart and placed outside his body, and then nothing but a small green light.

**Obviously the prologue was short. This is just to get you caught up on how the Spartans even arrived. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Alright, Chapter 1 takes place at the end of **_**The Revelation.**_** Let me know what you think. As always, this is not my stuff. I wish I owned Halo and Legend of Korra, but sadly others beat me to the idea. **

**Chapter One **

Korra had watched as four benders had their bending removed from them at the Equalist rally. Amon was a terrifying threat to Republic city and she, Bolin, and Mako had barely made it out on Naga. They were riding for their lives right now, but even with the danger, Bolin still complained about being carried in Naga's mouth. As they rounded a turn on the dark roads, a flash of greenish light appeared in front of them and something metallic sounding clanked to the ground. As they approached it, Korra could see blood seeping out of it.

"Mako, how far have we gone?" she asked as she pulled Naga to a stop in front of the metal thing. She looked up at the tall buildings around them scanning for a possible ambush and then back to the metal object.

Mako looked back the way they came. "Probably at least two miles. If nothing has happened now, I don't think they chased us."

Korra nodded and the two of them climbed out of the saddle as Naga set Bolin gently to the ground.

"This was definitely not one of my better rides." Bolin tried to dry some of the drool off of his shirt. Naga proceeded to lick him across the face before turning a following Korra towards the object.

"Naga, stay." Korra commanded as she cautiously approached the metal hulk that laid there. As she got closer, it seemed to have the form of a man.

"Korra, shouldn't we get going?" Mako asked cautiously, as he looked about the dark street. This was a bottleneck, and if the Equalists had followed, all they would have to do is come from both ends and that would be it.

Korra took a few more steps. "Mako, Bolin come look at this." Korra gently prodded it with her toe.

Mako and Bolin walked over and flanked Korra. All three stood staring at it. "It looks like a man." Bolin whispered. He seemed to be a redish color, but a dull red, not like the hot rod reds that many of the satomobiles had now. He was fully incased in a suit with strange markings on it, and from the right side of his chest through his right shoulder was seeping blood.

"What on earth is it?" Mako asked. As he spoke, the chest rose slightly.

Korra reached down to touch the smooth face. "I think it is alive…"

"Maybe we should try to help it." Bolin reached down and looked at the wound.

Mako looked around the area. "No, it is probably a trap from Amon. He is probably watching about to ambush us."

Korra looked up at him. "No Mako, we are going to help. He's obviously hurt, and I don't think this is Amon's style." And with that, she tugged on the 'face.' It budged slightly and she pulled harder. It slid off revealing the face of what looked to be a twenty something year old man. His hair was cut short and he was cleanly shaven, as she looked, air mixed with blood escaped his lips. "See, he is breathing!" Korra exclaimed. Breathing was an overstatement, as it looked more like blood bubbles were coming from his lips.

Korra grabbed him by his good shoulder and Bolin moved to the feet. "We need to move him, Mako, can you get his arm and keep it from moving?" Mako grudgingly did as he was asked.

Bolin looked at Korra. "One, two, three, lift!" The two of them struggled and tried, but it felt like he weighed more than a polar bear dog.

"What are we going to do? We can't lift him." Bolin tried once more to lift just the legs, but they barely lifted an inch off the ground.

Korra started to feel around the body. "Well, the helmet came off, and it weighs like twenty pounds! Maybe the rest will come apart as well."

The three of them worked quickly, finding latches and removing the armor piece by piece. Soon, they had removed almost all of it; the chest and back pieces were all that remained. Korra grabbed a latch and pulled and the two pieces separated along the seam. Korra and Bolin lifted away the chest piece and the man's body seemed to sag apart at the wound.

"That injury doesn't look good, Korra." Mako wiped some of the blood away to inspect the injury better. The man had been cut completely through by some type of blade. Mako could see the sliced muscle tendons and the bone underneath them. Blood started to pour out of the gash and Mako immediately put pressure on the wound.

"Let's try again." Korra placed her hands under his good shoulder and prepared to lift. This time the three of them were able to lift him and place him across Naga.

"He has a backpack. Should we bring it?" Bolin grabbed the bag by the straps.

Korra nodded and somehow they all managed to get back to the Pro Bending Arena where Bolin and Mako lived. They managed to carry him up to attic room and placed him on the floor.

"He is going to need a doctor." Mako looked the wounds over once more. The entire right shoulder blade seemed to have been sliced through and he wondered what could have caused such an injury.

"Get his shirt off." Korra told Bolin as she paced the floor.

Bolin tugged at it, but he seemed to be wearing a body suit. It came off in sections and Bolin piled the sections next to the man. He removed all of the pieces around the injury, including the cut ones.

Korra looked about the room. "Where can I get some water?"

"The bathroom, right over there." Mako pointed her to the bathroom door.

Korra bent water from their bathroom and placed it onto the wound as Katara had taught her. She focused on the injury and slowly started to knit the skin and muscle back together. Mako and Bolin just stood there, shocked to see a healer at work.

Korra felt the torn muscle fibers reattaching and healing. The cells coming together once more. It seemed to take forever, but soon, she was sure they were healed. She tried to focus on the bone, but if felt almost as if it was metal. None of the healing water was doing anything to it. She decided that this man could allow his body to heal itself in that department. As she looked over the rest of his body, it was also covered in scars. Many of them seemed to be quite old. Almost as if he had been a fighter in a war for years, but he looked as if he was only twenty five or so.

"Let's let him rest, and I am sure we could all use some as well." Mako said. He placed a blanket over the man as well as a folded one under his head and sat down on the couch. Korra sat at the other end and Bolin took off into talking.

"Rest! How can I rest right now? There is a strange, half dead guy on our floor and I almost had my bending taken away!" Bolin was almost running about the room now. "I can't thank you enough. I was ready to pee myself when Amon was all like 'I'm going to take your bending away.' And then he took out the Triple Threat leader." Bolin sat down heavily in a chair. "Thank you both… so much."

Mako looked downward. He couldn't count the number of times he had saved Bolin's butt, however he loved his brother and he was all he had left. He would have given up his own bending to save him.

"You're welcome." Korra said absently mindedly. She was not really paying attention to Bolin, but staring at the man. He had short brown hair and was very pale in complexion. His eyes were still tightly shut in pain.

"And then! We have this guy…" Bolin stood up and nudged him in the leg. "Who do you think he is anyway?"

Mako shot a glance at Bolin. "Maybe if you stop kicking him, he'll wake up and tell us."

Bolin leaned over the man. "Nah, I bet with an injury like that, he won't be awake for days…"

At that moment, the man's eyes shot opened. In less than a second he had scanned the room and assessed the situation. His mind reminded him last time he was conscious he had been injured by his enemy. Assuming this was still a threatening area was easy to do. He spun on the floor and knocked the stocky guy who was standing over him to the floor. The thinner guy and a girl jumped up from the couch they were on as his arm snaked around the neck of the man who had been over him. He was prepared to break the neck or strangle, which ever needed done. Slowly his ears recognized the words being spoken to him.

"WAIT!" Korra shouted "We are your friends!"

"Well… some of us are." Mako mumbled under his breath, as prepared to blast the guy to kingdom come. He had his fingers ready to shoot lightning at the man's head if he didn't comply.

Bolin had his hands wrapped around the man's arm trying to pull it away from his throat. "Yeah…. You should definitely listen to them."

He looked around once more. "Why should I? I obviously have the upper hand. And while you look like you can fight, I promise I can take you." The man grinned slightly at the two teenagers.

Korra raised her eyebrow. "Oh really?" She shot a glance at Mako and he nodded slightly.

Mako breathed deeply. "Hey Bo, why don't you show him that thing you can do." Bolin gulped slightly before he moved at all. This time, it was the man who raised his eyebrows, prepared still to snap Bolin's neck. Bolin dropped his arms and two stone disks that were sitting on the table shot towards him and his assailant, quickly he dropped all of his weight and was able to slide out of the chokehold. At the same time, Mako and Korra sent blasts of fire towards the man.

The man had ducked with Bolin, expecting some type of attack. The disks had been a surprise, but the fire was a shock. These two had shot fire out of their hands at him. Mako and Korra didn't press their attack, hoping the show of force would subdue the man. Unfortunately, they were quite wrong, the man rolled away from them wincing slightly when his shoulder hit the ground, but was still easily able to grab a chair and lifted it over his head as if it was a paper weight.

"Stop!" Korra shouted urgently as she flung the water that she had used for healing the man, and froze him where he stood.

Mako looked at her. "Well, that might have been good to do sooner."

Bolin strutted up to the captured man. "Not so tough now, are ya?" Bolin leaned his face a little too close to his and nearly got a broken nose when the man tried to head but him.

"You really should stop; I don't want to have to freeze your head to." Korra smirked at him.

This time, the man lowered his head. "Obviously if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so. I stand down."

Korra looked at Mako. "I say we let him chill out for a bit." Mako said looking him up and down.

"No," Korra unfroze the water and sent it back into the bathroom. "let's let him tell his story. What is your name?" Korra inquired as she took a seat.

"Roland, Alpha-258, Spartan of the UNSC." Roland looked them over again. "Who are you and where am I?"

"UNSC?" Bolin looked at the others. "Spartan… I think this guy is a wacko."

"I'm Korra, this is Mako," She point to the older brother who simply dipped his head in a greeting, "and that is his younger brother, Bolin." who huffed loudly. "Welcome to Republic City."

Roland looked them over once more and walked to the window. "Something tells me I'm not from around here."

Korra walked up next to him. "Well, we saw a flash, and you were lying in the middle of the street."

"How did I get there?" Roland checked his shoulder. "Why is my shoulder alright? Last time I checked, I should have died from my wounds, and now I am about to throw chairs around."

"I really have no idea how you got there, and I healed you."

"Huh, you must have some sort of medicine here."

"We saved your bag." Bolin walked forward and handed Roland his hard shelled backpack. "I tried to get into it, but there aren't any latches. I didn't want to smash it opened."

Roland nodded his thanks and took the bag. He wanted to know where his armor and helmet were, but that would have to wait. He thought he could trust these people, so he set out to get to know them. He pressed the button one the rucksack to unlock it and then sat cross legged as he emptied the contents in the middle of the floor.

"So, what exactly are you?" Korra sat across from him.

"I'm a Spartan. Trained to be the best." Roland picked up his M6C, thankfully, he had stored it when he picked up the Covenant Carbine shortly before he was injured. He had ten magazines, each containing twelve rounds of .45 ACP for it.

"What is a Spartan?" Bolin sat on the couch, showing interest in all of the green and grey items the Spartan had dumped out.

Roland had never really had to dissect what he was before. Honestly, he had never had to talk to anyone other than Jonah and an odd officer or enlisted man. "Well, when I was thirteen or so, I was given an offer to become a soldier. Where I'm from, an alien race is over running humanity. I jumped at the chance and I was trained to be an assassin."

"So, Spartans are assassins?" Korra asked.

"No, just a few of us." Roland rolled two frag grenades about on the floor and picked up the last charge of C12 and the detonator. "Several of us from my class were given the chance to become headhunters. That is where we learned to not just be killers, but assassins. Either with guns," Roland held up his pistol. "knives," He held a combat knife, not much different than the one Jonah had always carried "explosives," He placed the grenades and C12 back into the pack. "or our bare hands."

"Sounds fun." Mako commented from the corner off Roland's left side. He had taken up what he thought would be the best point to take the Spartan out if he needed to.

"You know," Roland packed away several days worth of rations and some medical equipment. "if you were going to hit me, my right side is slightly weaker with the bone not being reattached yet."

Mako nodded and stayed where he was. "How do you know it is still broken?" Korra questioned him. "I tried to repair that to, but it feels like it is made of metal."

Roland finished repacking his bag. He had kept out a pair of fatigue pants that he never thought he would have needed, and an under shirt, and a holster for the M6C. "Well, they sort of are." As he placed the undershirt over his head, he could see the confusion in Korra's face. "We are augmented. Stronger muscles, harder metal infused bones, quicker reflexes. All around, better warriors than normal."

"So, all of this happened when you were younger?" Korra asked with a look of shock in her eyes.

Roland removed the lower part of his under suit and stood their stark naked from the waist down as he put his pants on. "Yes, most of it was when I was fifteen or so."

Korra was too shocked to speak as he slid his belt into place. First, he was barely a teenager when all that happen to him, and second, he hadn't had his pants on! "Um…" Korra blushed slightly "So how old are you exactly?"

Roland finished by clipping the holster to his hip and strapping his knife to his leg. "I'm eighteen." He looked at his feet and wiggled his toes. "Any chance of getting some shoes?"

"Back up a second." Mako said, walking out from the corner now. "You're eighteen?"

"Yes." Roland didn't really understand the looks all three of them were giving him.

"But you look like you're at least twenty five." Mako looked the Spartan over once more. His muscle structure and facial features all led him to believe that he was more than eighteen years of age. "How can that be?"

Roland shrugged. "Augmentations." Was his mater of a fact answer before he looked at his feet again. "Shoes?"

Mako sighed and shook his head out of confusion, he still didn't get how this all worked, but he went into his room to find a pair of shoes.

"So, what are you going to do here?" Korra asked.

"I'm not exactly sure." Roland looked about once more. "Tell me what is happening here, cause I doubt I'll be heading home anytime soon."

"Well…" Korra started before she was cut off by Roland.

"Wait. What was that thing you did?" Roland inquired.

Korra looked at him oddly. "What thing?"

"With the water," Roland then pointed to Bolin. "and the disks, and the fire."

"Bending?" Korra looked at him quizzically.

Roland shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, if that is what you call it."

Korra knit her eyebrows in thought. "Well, it is something that um… yeah I don't know how to describe it."

"But you can control water, fire, and stone?" Now it was Roland's turn to be confused.

"Some people can control air as well." Bolin chimed in, receiving a glare from Korra.

"Yes, some can control air as well." She muttered.

Roland absentmindedly rolled his shoulder a bit before asking "So, how did you heal me?"

"Well, water can be used to heal as well." Korra thought for a moment. "I didn't really _heal _you, I just sped up the process your body normal does for healing."

"Well, Korra, it seems that I am in your debt." Roland looked straight into her eyes which he noticed were a lovely shade of pale blue that almost seemed out of place against her tan almost brown skin. "I have seen injuries before and I saw my vitals. Without you, I would have died without a doubt."

"Don't mention it…" Korra broke Roland's gaze and reddened in her cheeks.

"So, can you control several elements?" Roland looked at Korra as the color started to fade away. "You used fire to attempt to scare me and water to freeze me."

Korra shrugged. "Not exactly. Only I can use all four elements." Roland looked confused so she elaborated. "I am the Avatar, he or she can use all four elements. I'm supposed to be training to become the protector of the world." Roland laughed quietly to himself. "What!" Korra was now glaring at him, and red was returning to her cheeks, but this time out of anger.

Mako also had a bit of a grin on his face as he walked back into the room, having heard parts of the conversation as he was locating a pair of shoes. Roland thought for a moment before speaking. "You are going to be the protector of the world?" Roland strolled back over to the chair and leaned back in the seat. "I do owe you, but I could have taken you easily. This world will be rather interesting indeed."

"Whatdya mean you _could_ have taken me?" Korra's blood boiled with anger and she stood up defiantly.

"I'm just saying, I could have." Roland sat there crossed legged and just looked at her as she stood there fuming.

"Fine then, come at me again." She adamantly took a bending stance and motioned for him to attack at her.

Roland drew his M6C, a standard issue suppressed pistol. "I don't want to fight you. While we aren't exactly friends, you aren't my enemy, and you have helped me, so I have no fight with you."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Korra used a mocking tone as she placed her hands on her hips.

Roland looked to Mako. "Are you terribly fond of that pot?" He asked, motioning to a small ceramic pot sitting beside the window about two feet besides Korra.

"No, not particu…" PFFT! Crash! The sound of the suppressed M6C resounded throughout the room. Each of the three benders felt the thump in their gut. _Ting ting ting_… the .45 casing rattled to a stop on the wooden floor as the air filled with an acrid stench of cordite that burned their nostrils when they inhaled.

Mako and Bolin's mouths were agape. "What was that!" Korra asked as she side stepped the window. A small hole had punched through the wall behind the vase and continued onward.

"The reason I could win. Unless you can detect and stop a bullet flying through the air at you." Korra shook her head and sat back down, shocked and afraid of this weapon that Roland carried.

"Sorry I had to do that. Just didn't want you to think I was helpless." Roland set the safety and holstered his pistol. _One Hundred, nineteen left. _Roland thought to himself.

Korra nodded silently. Apparently, there was more to Roland than she had thought.

"So, all you are doing is training?" Roland assumed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I trained for years, but it can get old quick."

"Well, she is." Mako said. "The three of us are in a competition together as well. It pits benders against each other in a ring. We are actually headed to the finals now." Mako's chest swelled slightly with pride for his team.

"So, that's it? Not to sound disappointed, but I figured you" Roland pointed to Korra "as the protector of the world and all, would have some sort of emergency right now."

Korra looked at Mako and Bolin. "Well, there is…" The three of them sat down and took turns explaining what had happened with Amon and his followers. They went into detail about the Equalists and how bending was being removed.

After nearly thirty minutes of explanation, Roland spoke up. "That's more like it. When do we leave? We can go get him now."

"No, not yet." Korra looked at the two brothers. "Y'all should get some sleep."

"What about him?" Bolin asked.

"I'm sure Tenzin won't mind him coming to the island." Korra stood to leave and Roland followed suit.

Mako still didn't seem totally convinced by the concept of Roland staying on the island with Korra. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"Do you have a better one?" Korra asked. "The other options are throwing him out on the street or leave him with you."

Bolin looked around. "Well, we do have plenty of floor space."

Korra shook her head. "No, he'll be fine with me." She looked him up and down once more. "And I still say I can take him, unless he tries that trick again. Besides, like he said, he owes me. The least he can do is help as a guard or something."

"I can do that." Roland said patting his M6C.

Korra walked out of the room. "Or, I can always just use him as a training dummy." She hollered as she left.

Roland grinned and followed her out. This would be very interesting world indeed.

**As always, please read and review. No flames, but constructive criticism is gladly accepted. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Alright, Here's Chapter 2! I hope to put a chapter up every day or every other day, but we'll see how it goes. This is still not my stuff… **

**Chapter Two**

Tenzin was pacing about the terrace, worried sick about Korra. She was the Avatar, but still didn't hardly have and experience in looking after herself. Finally a guard approached to tell him that she was coming up through the temple.

"Tenzin!" Korra raced over to meet him with a hug.

"Korra, where have you been? I was worried sick!" Tenzin held his hands on her shoulders. She almost felt as if she was trembling.

"We were at Amon's rally. Tenzin…. He can take people's bending away… for good." Korra looked downward, ashamed for being afraid of Amon.

"Then he is much more of a threat then the council and I anticipated." Tenzin hugged her once more. He looked around and noticed a man standing behind her. He was clean cut, with grey pants and a black t-shirt. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and he just seemed to be waiting for them to finish. "Who are you?" Tenzin moved to place himself between Korra and the man.

"Tenzin, this is Roland." Korra moved to where she now stood between the two. Roland approached them by taking two long strides forward and reached out to shake Tenzin's hand at the same moment that Tenzin bowed. They both looked at each other for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth the explanation.

"Sir, I have a feeling you're gonna need to be brought up to speed." Roland glanced at Korra and then looked around at the air temple a bit. High towers and lots of curves seemed to make up the entire building. Most of the windows were darkened as it was late, but a few we lit. He noticed a person watching him from above.

Tenzin nodded. "Let's go into the tea room." He looked at the night sky and had a feeling he wasn't going to be getting much sleep.

The three of them sat down in the tea room and Korra explained everything that had happened at the rally and how she had come across Roland. Then he took over and explained about his background as a Spartan and what he remembered from before he blacked out and woke up with Bolin over him. The both conveniently left out the small fight that had happened in the guys attic room.

"You said you saw a large flash of light and then he was laying there?" Tenzin rubbed his eyes sleepily as he asked. It had been a long night indeed.

"Yes, it was kind of greenish but then I heard a clanking sound and he was here." Korra said for the third time.

"It sounds like the Spirits may have sent him." Tenzin stroked his beard in thought.

Korra shot a glance at Roland who raised his eyebrow. He had been rather quiet most of the time but now he spoke."Spirits?" He inquired almost sarcastically.

"Yes. In our world, the Spirits live in a separate world of their own. Spirits can come in and out of our world, but only the Avatar can go into the Spirit world and return." Tenzin thought for a moment. "Well, I guess General Iroh was an exception. But from what I have heard, it wasn't easy."

Now it was Roland who thought these people were crazy. If anything, he would have chalked it up to the plasma explosion somehow ripping time and space apart and sending him here. He and Jonah had never actually been briefed on what was being researched in the covenant facility they had destroyed.

"Well, either way. I am here now, and Korra saved my life." Roland unconsciously rolled his shoulder again. He knew how much damage he had sustaoined, his HUD had made it quite clear and he had resigned himself to die, but somehow this seventeen year old had saved him. "The least I can do is help y'all out some."

Tenzin nodded and stood to his feet. "I'll inform the guards that you are a guest and are to be treated with the utmost respect."

"Thanks, Tenzin." Korra and Roland also stood.

"Well, morning is only a few hours off. I am going to try to get some sleep tonight and I'm sure you both would like to as well." Korra nodded in reply and started for the door. "We can figure out a rooming arrangement for you tomorrow Roland. For now, Korra, you can find somewhere for Roland to sleep."

"I don't know which rooms are where…" Korra said, as she tried to orient herself. She thought the male dormitory was off of the temple, facing the Sky Bison stables.

Tenzin sighed. "If you truly are a soldier, then you have honor." Tenzin looked at Korra. "Roland may sleep in your room tonight. This is rather unorthodox, but I will allow it."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good few hours of sleep." Roland followed Korra to her room. He could never get used to how civilians thought they needed SO much sleep. If he got three hours of unbroken sleep, he could function for more than twenty hours without an issue. Most civilians wanted at least eight or ten.

"Sorry, but I am still rather new here myself." Korra said as she laid a blanket out on the floor beside her bed. "I'm not really sure which rooms are occupied and which aren't. I know technically you're supposed to be in the male dormitory, but I don't think anyone will mind too much."

Roland flashed a quick smile at her. "Thanks, but this will do just fine. I have slept in places far worse than the floor."

Korra nodded and seemed to get a distant look in her eyes as if she was thinking. "You'll have to tell me some time." This soldier puzzled her. He seemed to have been through far worse than she could imagine, but still was cheerful and pleasant to be around.

Roland laid down fully clothed on top of the folded blanket. He curled onto his side and stuck his arm under his head as a pillow. "Good night, Avatar." Roland said, and moments later, he was asleep.

Korra had laid down on her bed and hadn't replied. Her mind was swimming with thoughts and sleep didn't come easy. She thought of the Chi blockers she and Mako had fought and lost to. She thought of Amon and what he represented for the future. She thought of Mako and Bolin and how glad she was that they were both alright, and finally she thought of the Spartan sleeping a few feet from her. It had now been thirty minutes or so since he had said goodnight to her. She propped her head up with her arm and looked at his sleeping form. In the moonlight, she could see a glint coming from his free arm that he had tucked into his stomach as he slept. As her eyes adjusted, she saw that it was his knife. She gazed at him a moment more, sure that if anything happened, he would be more then able to handle himself, and with that she lay her head down on the pillow and fell into a fitful sleep.

_Pat pat pat… soft foot falls woke Korra from her fitful sleep. She stared at the window for a moment and moved to lay her head back down when a chi blocker burst through. She was up in a moment, spinning and sending a blast of fire through the room. Then two more blockers broke down the door, immediately dodging her attack and countered with their own. _

_Korra managed to get a solid hit on one of them as the second slid inside of her attack and landed several strikes on her left side. She felt her body go numb but managed to fire once more. The last shot was simply out of the last of her hope and it missed completely. This time, the other chi blocker struck her twice on her right side and once on the neck, which caused her entire body to fall out from under her. _

_As she crumpled onto the ground, she noticed the spot where Roland should have been. Why wasn't he helping her? The door flew opened and she was sure help had arrived. Was it Roland wielding his pistol or Tenzin with his airbending? _

_No, what she saw took her breath away. It was Amon and he simply strolled into the room. "After I take your bending away, you will be nothing." His menicing voice filled the room as his hand filled her vision. Air entered Korra's lungs and she managed on last scream. _

She jolted awake to Roland standing over her with one hand on her outside shoulder. He gently pushed her back down to the pillow. It had all been just a dream.

"Roland?" Korra pitifully moaned.

Roland nodded his head. "Go back to sleep." He patted her on the shoulder and sat down on the side of the bed. He sat there for several minutes watching her, but her eyes never shut. She simply stared at the ceiling, rarely blinking and not moving.

"Korra, go to sleep." Roland said quietly.

"I can't. I'll have another dream." She sat up and looked around the room. The moonlight was shining in the window, casting strange shadows on the floor.

"This Amon guy is really getting to you, isn't he?" Roland sighed. Korra didn't seem as if she would move at all. The shadows danced as a cloud rolled past the moon outside. Roland was still standing over her. Korra looked him over quickly to allow herself to think of something else. He was a pretty good looking guy and the moonlight only helped his good looks.

Roland reached down and pushed her feet back towards her a bit and sat across the foot of her bed with his back resting against the wall. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here if you need me."

Korra smiled sadly and rolled up into a ball. She was embarrassed at the weakness and fear she was showing around Roland. No wonder he didn't respect her as the Avatar. All he had seen of her was a quick bending display and now this. At least she could trust him, regardless of if the Spirits sent him or if it was just an accident, he was a good guy and wasn't going to harm her. She finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep, no dreams of any kind, but all night, she felt the bit of a slump in the mattress where Roland sat, ready to help if needed.

Korra's eyes opened slowly. The sun was gleaming through her intact window into her eyes as it did every morning. Judging by the height of the sun, it had to be at least eight already. She felt the fire bender in her absorbing the energy that the sun radiated. She sat up and saw that Roland wasn't at her feet like he had been last night. His bag and bed roll were still on the floor, but he was nowhere to be seen. She heard some grunts coming from the training grounds, stretched, and decided that would be a good place to check.

Korra ran her fingers through her hair as she walked to try to straighten it a bit. She put it up in her traditional way with a high ponytail and two piece of hair hanging down past her ears. There were only the sounds of grunts, no blast of earth or any other type of bending. As she left the temple door way, she could see why.

Roland was standing in the center of the training yard with five of the White Lotus guards encircling him. The biggest guard on the island, Parger, a beast of a man from the center of the earth kingdom, was sprawled out nursing several bruises next to Tenzin. Tenzin motioned for Korra to come over by them. She glanced once more at Roland, noting that he only was wearing the clothes he had on last night, while all the guards had training armor on them.

"Korra my dear, would you mind healing Parger for me?" Tenzin asked her kindly as she sat down with them.

"Sure… what happened?" She asked as she drew some water from a nearby puddle.

Parger looked at Tenzin as if asking to tell her. He got a nod in reply. "Well, about twenty minutes ago, I came out here for my usual workout and sparing with the other guards. That guy seemed like he had already been out here for an hour working out. He saw a few of us start to spar and moved aside to make room." Korra applied the healing water to his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "Well, I figured he could be fresh meat and asked to spar with him. Well, at first he refused, but I egged him on until he did. I have never lost like this before…" Parger hung his head.

Now Tenzin spoke up. "I saw Roland throw Parger at the end of their spar and told the other guards if they were going to continue they needed to put on padding."

"But that is five on one!" Korra exclaimed as she looked at the group again.

Parger rolled his eyes. "Roland asked for it that way. He just specified no bending."

Korra's eyebrows scrunched and she scrutinized Roland from a distance. The five guard were circling like buzzards ready for a kill. They were a mix of water, earth, and fire benders, and Roland had simply taken a fighting stance in the middle of the group. He had let himself get surrounded.

"_That's odd. Even I know not to get surrounded like that." _Korra thought.

Even without their bending, they were all trained men who knew how to fight. Roland still stood there. His eyes watched their hips the entire time, never looking at the eyes or hands. Finally, one of the guards broke the stalemate. He rushed forward with a wicked right hook to try to catch Roland by surprise.

Korra almost missed Roland duck into the blow, grab the man, and use his momentum to throw him into another guard. As the two guards tried to recover, another tried to high kick Roland. He stepped into it again, caught the leg as it impacted his ribs, and simply threw the man onto his back.

Korra almost shouted out as one of the final two guards grabbed Roland in a headlock and the other drew back to bash his face in. These guards were tired of their mates being made into fools. Roland seemed to succumb to the headlock and didn't really fight back. As the man threw his punch though, Roland dropped his weight like Bolin had done to him the day before and the guard smashed his fist into his friends face. Roland performed a simple leg sweep, knocking this man to his back as well.

Having lost the element of surprise and most of the numerical advantage, the two guards he had knocked down first tried to simply rush him together to tackle him. Roland threw an elbow into ones face as he smashed the others instep. They both fell to the ground. As one of the other guards would stand, Roland would take him down. This went on for a few more minutes before Tenzin stood up.

"Master Roland. I believe you have shown us all who the best here is at fighting hand to hand. I would appreciate it if you did not kill or maim any of my guards."

Roland smiled. "Of course sir, but mind you, they did start it."

"I am aware. Thank you for the demonstration. There is a bathroom through there if you would like to clean up for breakfast." Tenzin pointed out the faculties before turning back to Korra.

Roland followed the two walking guards towards where Parger and Korra were sitting. The two guards help Parger up and they moved towards the bathroom.

Roland smiled sheepishly at Korra as he walked past. "Sorry I left this morning, but the sun was up and you seemed fine."

Korra finally closed her mouth after watching Roland. "Don't worry about it…. Nice moves out there." She mumbled.

Roland stopped and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, it is hard to remember they aren't trying to kill me." He turned and continued towards the showers. "I doubt you would appreciate it if I killed six of your guards."

Korra smiled. "See you at breakfast?" She asked.

"Of course, kicking butt and looking good makes me hungry!" Roland yelled as he entered the bathroom.

Korra blushed slightly and headed towards the dining room. If only Roland knew how true that statement really was.

Roland showered quickly. He had felt a pang of guilt when he told that phrase to Korra. He and Jonah had used it several times before they paused to eat. Roland really had no idea where Jonah could be, but if he was here somewhere, super soldiers don't exactly stay hidden for long.

Roland washed his clothes, but couldn't get all of the water out of them and still make it to breakfast. _"Oh well, it has been worse than damp skivvies" _He thought as he dressed and headed to the dining room.

Everyone else was already seated when he walked in. "I am sorry. I couldn't get all of the water out of my clothes."

"Here, let me." Korra jumped up to help him as two younger girls giggled in the back ground.

Roland looked at them and Tenzin's wife quizzically, he figured Tenzin was a monk, you know, no family or anything, but must have been wrong.

Korra bent the water out of Roland's clothes and smiled at him again. He smiled back as best he could and took a seat next to her. All this attention from a female… Roland wasn't sure if he even liked it that much.

Tenzin blessed their food and then they started to eat.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Where are you from?"

"What's your name?"

The kids bombarded Roland with questions before he could even look up.

"Children, allow Mr. Roland to eat for a moment before you shower him with questions." Tenzin scolded the children. As Roland started to eat, he was introduced to the family. "Roland, this is my family, my wife Pema, she is pregnant with our fourth child, my eldest daughter Jinora, my middle child Ikki, and my son Meelo." Roland nodded at each of them and tried to speak before he was showered with questions again. Several more were asked, but one stood out the most.

"Do you like Korra?" Ikki, the middle child asked bluntly.

Korra almost spit her mouthful of eggs across the table at Ikki. Roland wasn't exactly sure how to reply to her question. "Umm…. Well, I guess she is very nice." Korra blushed fiercely. "But I don't think I am very likeable." Roland bent down as if to tell Ikki a secret. "Plus, I don't have very much experience with girls" Roland smiled at Ikki and went back to his breakfast. Tenzin had chuckled a bit and Korra was finding her food very interesting.

"Why is Roland here, daddy?" Jinora asked.

"Well, he will be staying with us for awhile." Pema explained. "We are still trying to decide how he got here, but he is welcome as long as he wants." Roland nodded his thanks to Pema. Obviously Tenzin had already explained what was going on.

"Hey mister, what do you do?" Meelo spoke up next. Roland thought for a moment as this could be a touchy subject.

"I am a soldier. I have fought in many battles, but I ended up here." Roland took a bite of some type of fruit. He decided to focus on his eggs instead. At least there was one thing that really could never change.

"Oooo" Jinora spoke next. "Did you have any warrior friends? I read this book once where these three soldiers took on an entire army and survived. Did you do anything like that?"

Roland nodded. "Something like that."

The children seemed as if they were about to ask more questions, but Pema silenced them with a look. "What will you do here, Roland?" she asked kindly.

Roland thought for a moment. "I am not really sure. I have been taught quite a few skills, but all of them pertain to the battlefield, none to civilian life. I am sure I can find something to help with my cost of living here."

"Nonsense! You needn't pay us a yuan to live here." Pema sighed.

"Well, thank you for the offer, but I must find something to do, even if it is just for pocket change." Roland knew that he also might go stir crazy if he never left the island.

Tenzin thought for a moment. "Would you be interested in teaching Korra how to fight?"

Korra's head shot up from her plate and glared at Tenzin. Roland looked at her and back at him. "I wouldn't mind, but why does she need it? She already knows how to bend, and even a few fighting styles outside of bending."

"I know, however, all of the fighting styles we teach relate to bending or are bending moves in themselves. You fight in a way that I have never seen before." Korra glared at Tenzin as if she couldn't stand the thought. "Plus, with the threat that these chi blockers pose, a fighting style that doesn't need bending would be a great thing for the Avatar to learn. Plus, that can be your way of covering your expenses, and we can even pay you so you can have some money to go out on the town."

"Very well, I can start as soon as you would like me to." Roland said as he wiped his plate with a piece of his toast.

"Korra, you and Sifu Roland can start training after you let your breakfast settle." Tenzin said as if the matter was settled.

"Sifu Roland?" Korra moaned. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"What is Sifu?" Roland looked at the two of them.

"It means master or trainer." Jinora chimed in.

Roland grinned and glanced at Korra. "There is no need for that, although it does have a nice ring to it. Korra, we can start in an hour. You might want to get some training pads and some water." Roland left the room to go prepare.

"Really!" I don't want to have to learn from another person!" Korra argued when Roland was out of earshot.

"Oh well. This will be great for you to learn, and you might actually need it someday." Korra stood to leave. "Remember, Roland said to be there in one hour."

"Hmph." Korra threw her head back a bit as she walked out.

"I have a meeting with the council today. I will stop by to see how your training goes when I return." Tenzin smiled as she stalked off. If there was a way to keep them from getting into trouble this was probably it.

**What do you think? How will Korra and Roland do as Student and Teacher? What is a Spartan going to do without a war to fight? Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 is up! By the way, to all my fellow American readers, Happy Independence day! This is by far my favorite Holiday of the year, too bad it didn't fall inside of the school year so I could have a day off. **

**Chapter Three **

Roland stood waiting in the training yard. He didn't love the thought of training Korra and she didn't seem to like the idea much either, but it was something she could benefit from and it gave Roland a task to do. It felt like it had been over an hour when Korra finally showed up, but Roland didn't worry about it much.

"Alright Korra, I have a feeling your pissed," Roland shuffled his feet slightly. "but be honest, this could help you one day."

"I know I just don't love the idea of you being my 'Sifu'." Korra complained.

"Eh, pretend that wasn't even said. I know we haven't even known each other for a full day, but just think of me as a friend teaching you a few moves. You and Bolin and Mako do that for your Pro Fighting Arena stuff, don't you?"

Korra thought back to the simple things Bolin had shown here to change up her earth bending and grinned. "Yes, we do. Alright Roland, what have you got?"

"One thing before we start, just so you know, augmentations aren't just for my muscles… I can hear and see far better than a normal person as well as many other things." Korra blushed at the mention of that. What he was saying is he heard how she had been complaining about being taught by him.

Roland allowed that to sink in before asking. "Well, how exactly does this chi blocking work? I mean I know it somehow stops you from being able to bend, but what type of moves does it entail?"

Korra stepped forward and slowly demonstrated a few pressure point strikes so Roland could see. She wasn't able to actually perform the strikes, but she knew the general area of where they landed. "Usually, they are quick strikes to joints." Korra demonstrated one or two. "They block a benders chi, and that prevents them from bending."

Roland raised his eyebrow questioningly. So far, a lot of this stuff was pretty insane. "I'm not sure about 'chi' but these points will lock up your muscles, disabling you for a short time." Roland then copied the area's Korra had aimed for, but he placed his knuckle into the exact spot for complete muscle lockup.

"So, you know chi blocking as well?" Korra asked suspiciously.

"No, in my universe, it is Kung Fu. There are different ways to learn it, but we focused on pressure points." Korra nodded as Roland continued. "These allowed us to subdue an opponent quickly and quietly without the need for drugs."

Korra stood rather confidently. "So, how are you going to teach me to stop being hit?"

"Alright, they have to get inside of the range of your bending in order to hit you." Roland demonstrated by grabbing her wrist and stepping within an inch of her before softly landing a blow. "So we'll focus on throws to create distance, and then grappling and a few quick strikes."

Korra nodded and took the same stance Roland had earlier. "Alright, one way to create distance is to use an opponent's velocity and mass against them." Roland took a fighting stance. "Rush at me and try to hit me."

Korra slid on a pair of training gloves and balled her hand into a fist before rushing forward to strike Roland. He responded by stepping into her charge and throwing his right shoulder into her chest. As his shoulder impacted, he shoved his arm through her legs and tucked his head in. He lifted with his arm ever so slightly and using his shoulder as a pivot point, threw her over his shoulder. As she landed roughly on her back, he rolled on top of her and pinned her to the ground.

"Now, from this stance, I could break your neck," Roland slowed down and reached for her chin and back of her head. He then slowly twisted her neck to the side to prove his point. "smash your jugular," he pressed his fist against her soft neck. "or smash you nose into your brain cavity." He again formed a fist, but pressed it against her nose.

Roland stood to his feet and offered her a hand up. Korra just laid there for a moment thinking before accepting his hand and standing to her feet. "So, when do you stop beating me and start teaching?"

Roland smiled and started walking her through the process. She threw him twice and was able to learn all three of the killing blows. After forty five minutes of this, Roland sighed in relief. "I think this is enough for today. Good job, Avatar." Roland smiled when he said Avatar. He had done so a few times now; convinced she still had not earned that title.

"Very well, Sifu Roland." Korra kept a serious look on her face for about two heart beats, but then broke into laughter. "Oh, that doesn't fit you at all."

Roland grinned a bit and walked off. He grabbed his pistol and buckled it back onto his belt and headed for the rooms. Korra followed him down the halls. "No offense, but I think we need to find a better sleeping arrangement." Roland spoke over his shoulder as they walked.

"What's a matter? Tough soldier doesn't like sleeping on the floor?" Roland looked back at her with a slight look of sorrow in his eye. "Roland, I was just kidding." Korra cut in quickly.

"I know, but I don't think it is…. right… proper maybe… for us to be sharing a room." Roland opened the door and allowed her to enter first.

"Why not?" Korra was genuinely puzzled.

"People could think we are together or something." Roland shrugged. "Plus I don't think Tenzin, being a monk and all would care for it."

"When did you get any shame?" Korra chuckled "You're the one who stood butt naked and changed in front of the three of us."

"True, but I am learning, and I apologize for that." Roland looked away. He had never spent time around civilians, but was quickly picking up on what to do and not do.

"Well, I can't really say I have seen that happen before." Korra smirked.

Roland started to collect his meager belongings. "Honestly though, I would rather find a different room."

"No Roland, it is fine." Korra placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'd rather you stay."

"Why?" Roland asked as he set his bag back onto the floor.

"You still owe me for saving you life. I'll have a second bed brought in and you can be on the other side of the room. I'll square it away with Tenzin; I think I can convince him you are to protect me or something." Roland nodded, no longer wanting to argue. Korra stood to leave. "Well, I need to go meet Tenzin for my airbending practice."

"Any suggestions on how I can fill my afternoon?" Roland asked looking around the room again.

She smiled. "You can always beat a few more guards. Hey, get a boat and go visit Mako and Bolin. They could use a new friend. I'll come as soon as I finish."

"Sounds good. Have fun with bending."

Korra playfully glared at him because she really hated air bending practice and ran off to meet Tenzin.

**Twenty minutes later. **

"Remember, be the leaf." Jinora reminded Korra as she spun through the now repaired airbender training tool.

Korra emerged from the other side without touching a single wooden blade. "I think I am finally getting the hang of this."

"So, how's Rooolaaanddd?" Jinora dragged the name out way too far.

"He is fine. I think he headed in to town to see Mako and Bolin."

"You like him, don't you?" Korra glared at the twelve year old.

"No, he is my instructor and we are going to just be friends. Not only that, but I have only known him for a day." Korra walked through the motions of airbending again.

Jinora batted her eyes at Korra. "Then do you like Mako, that fire bender you were talking about?"

Korra stopped practicing and turned away. "I'm going to find Tenzin." She mumbled. "Maybe he can train me without the dialogue."

Korra found Tenzin meditating on the terrace and decided to join him. Her meditation had improved, but she couldn't clear her mind. All she could think about was Mako and Roland after what Jinora had brought up. She shifted a few times and Tenzin opened his eye and looked at her. "Korra… how did training with Roland go?"

Korra huffed out a breath. "It went fine. I learned some pretty cool stuff. How was the meeting?"

"Councilman Tarrlok has voted to create a task force to go after Amon and his men. I am unsure of how this will play out."

Korra thought for a moment. "Well, it can't be too difficult to find him, can it? I mean up until yesterday he wasn't exactly hiding."

"Only time will tell." Tenzin closed his eyes and returned to his meditation.

The two sat together for another hour or so before Korra stood and stretched. "Well Tenzin, I am going to head to the arena. I am supposed to meet Roland and the guys there."

Tenzin opened one eye to look at her. "Very well, please though, be back in time for supper."

"At dusk?" Korra asked.

"That will do fine."

"See ya Tenzin!" Korra shouted as the ran off towards the side of the island that faced the arena.

Korra lunged off the island and started to waterbend towards shore. It only took her a short time to cover the distance between Avatar Island and the Pro Bending Arena. She shot out of the water and bent the water out of her clothes.

She thought for a moment to head for Mako and Bolin's upstairs apartment, but figured the gym was a more likely place for them to be. Korra strolled through the double door and almost plowed over Toza, the gym manager.

"Sorry Toza!" Korra exclaimed as she rolled around him, closing her eyes in preparation for a scolding.

Toza didn't even glance at her, instead his eyes remained firmly locked on the three young men in the center of the room. Korra saw Bolin, Mako, and Roland going toe to toe, and it looked as if Bolin and Mako were working together.

"Forty plus years with pro bending, and I have never seen a non bender fight like him." Korra looked back at Toza. "Not only that, but before they started this sparring session, he taught them a few holds and strikes." Toza shook his head in awe. "Bolin wanted to spar and Roland said he had a better idea. He insisted they _use_ bending on him. He managed to beat them both one on one, so this should be interesting."

Korra stood there watching as the match unfolded. Roland stood ready to fight with Bolin moving off his left and Mako off his right. So far, none of them had done a thing other than the two brothers slowly moving closer with their fists up, ready to attack.

"Bo, you go low, I'll go high." Mako spat out. They were both about seven yards away from Roland. "Now!" Bolin launched a pair of stone disks at Roland's legs as Mako sent a blast of fire towards his head. At that moment, Roland sprung into action. He lunged to his left, breaking into a roll and coming up just in front of Bolin who tried to lunge for Roland and take him to the ground. Roland threw Bolin over his shoulder and ducked as a blast from Mako flew over his head.

"Oww…." Bolin slumped over on his hands and knees.

Mako fired another blast at Roland. "I need you up if we are going to handle this Bo."

"Just a second…" Bolin rolled over onto his chest and started to get up. Roland ducked Mako's blast and ran towards the two. He plowed into Bolin and pulled him to his feet and just as Mako drew back for another shot, Roland slung Bolin in front of him. Bolin's training gear absorbed the blast of fire, but it winded him once more. "What the heck bro!" Bolin was flailing about in Roland's grip. "I'm on your side!"

"Sorry…" Mako muttered sheepishly as he pressed his attack.

Roland wrapped his arm around Bolin's neck and applied pressure. Bolin struggled for a few more second before he went limp. Roland dropped his arm as soon as Bolin passed out and dropped to the floor.

Mako rolled his eyes. "Oh, wonderful… Thanks for the help Bolin."

"Eh, it's your turn now." Roland grinned as he walked forward a bit. He rolled his shoulders and picked his hands up into more of a traditional boxing stance. Mako opened with a few volleys from ten yards away which Roland easily dodged. With each miss, Mako was allowing Roland to get closer to him. Normal people could have never slid out of the way so easily, but with his augmentations, Roland's reflexive speed was higher than most trained athletes. All he had to do was react.

"Come on Mako! You've still got it!" Korra shouted from the side line.

Both paused and turned to look at her for a moment. "Hey Korra…" Mako sighed. Not only had he lost earlier, now he would lose in front of Korra. Oh how wonderful.

Roland grinned once more and rushed Mako. He went high, but Mako managed to drop low and grab Roland at the waist. Mako pushed off and knocked Roland off of his center of balance. The both fell to the ground with Mako on top, arms wrapped around Roland's waste.

"Now what?" Roland asked Mako calmly. Roland wasn't exactly in any sort of tough spot, but Mako didn't have his firebending to help now.

Mako mumbled a reply of something to the extent of he didn't think of that part. Roland wrapped his legs around Mako's waist and stated to squeeze, then he managed to get his arm under Mako's head and put him in a reverse headlock. He held this position for a few seconds as Bolin walked up.

"Just call it bro… he's got you pinned." Mako released his arms and tapped Roland's side. The two stood up and shook hands.

"That was good. I didn't really think of what to do once you were on the ground, but I got you on the ground." Mako smiled a bit.

"Guess you didn't quite have it, Mako. Roland is a tough opponent." Korra walked up to the three men.

"Hey Korra. How did airbending go?" Roland asked.

Korra huffed a sigh. "As usual, nothing happened but some dance stuff and meditation."

They bantered back and forth for a few minutes about different types of training.

"Roland, did you have any trouble getting here?" Korra asked.

"Well, that guy," Roland pointed to Toza. "tried to throw me out, but I won." Toza huffed and left the room. "Then Mako and Bolin came out to see what all the shouting was about."

Korra just shook her head. "So, do we have time for some team practice?"

Mako nodded. "I think it would be good, even if we still don't have a way into the finals yet."

"What is Roland going to do?" Bolin asked.

"I can just watch or something," Roland moved to the side of the gym. "Let me know if you need any help or anything."

Bolin whispered to Korra and Mako. "We should make him go stand there and we can try to hit him!"

Korra and Mako looked doubtfully at Bolin's idea. "Think about it, he dodges everything we have. Hitting him would be hard!"

Mako nodded. "Roland, do you want to be target practice?"

Roland stopped and looked back at them. "You're on!" He grinned.

It took almost ten minutes of dodging before anyone landed a hit on Roland. He decided on wearing a training suit so he wasn't injured when he dodged Mako's fire blast and ended up directly in the path of Bolin's stone disk.

"WOOOOOO!" Bolin shouted as Roland recovered. "I got him!" Bolin did a short little dance that involved him chanting his own name and making roaring sounds to simulate applause.

The Fire Ferrets started to work together even more in coordinating their attacks. Mako could fire slightly right as Korra followed up with a blast of water where the person Roland would dodge to. Sometimes, Bolin might fire a one two punch and Mako could hit Roland when he landed from his roll out of the way.

After nearly an hour and several good solid hits, Roland was done. "Alright guys, I've had enough. Good job on the timing. I think you are getting it down!" Roland picked up a towel and threw his helmet off. "Korra, I am going to head back to the island now."

"Hang on Roland, I'll come with." Korra grabbed her training bag. "See ya fellas!" She shouted as she ran out after Roland.

The two returned to the island, cleaned up, and arrived a few minutes early for dinner. The meal placed before them looked wonderful, but as Tenzin blessed the food, in strolled an unfamiliar man. Roland noticed how Tenzin tensed when he heard the man's voice and drew his pistol slowly and placed it in his lap as the man cleared the doorway.

"An airbender never turns away a guest!" The well dressed man announced to Tenzin. "Ah, you must be Avatar Korra!" The man strolled across their side of the table.

"Roland, you can put that away." Tenzin said. "He isn't a threat, just annoying."

"Yes sir." Roland holstered his weapon and returned to his meal.

"I'm afraid I haven't met either of you yet. My name is Councilman Tarrlok, I am the representative for the Northern Water Tribe."

Korra stood and bowed. "It is nice to meet you. This is a friend of mine, Roland, meet Councilman Tarrlok." Roland nodded to the man, but had already decided he wanted nothing to do with him. Any type of politician, heck, even senior officers, usually made him feel sick to be around.

"Nice to meet you Roland." Tarrlok sat down besides Korra and started to shower her with praise, obviously trying to butter her up for something.

"Enough with the flattery Tarrlok, what do you want from Korra?" Tenzin finally asked.

"Patience Tenzin, I'm getting to that. As you may have heard, I assembling a task force that will strike at the heart of the revolution and I want you to join me."

"Really?" Korra thought for a moment.

"I need someone who will help attack Amon directly, someone who is fearless in the face of danger. And that someone is you."

"Join you task force?" Korra paused for a moment in thought. "I can't." She took another bite of her food and acted as if that was that.

Both Tarrlok and Tenzin seemed taken aback. "I must admit I'm um rather surprised. I thought you'd jump at the chance to help me lead the charge against Amon."

"I came to Republic City to finish my Avatar training with Tenzin. Right now, I just need to focus on that." Korra continued to eat.

"Which is why this opportunity is perfect! You would get on the job experience while performing your Avatar duty for the city." Tarrlok was using lots of hand motions to express his ideas, but to Roland, it just looked stupid.

Tenzin glared at Tarrlok. "Korra gave you her answer. It is time for you to go."

Tarrlok nodded and stood to leave. "Very well, but I'm not giving up on you just yet." Tarrlok chuckled. "You'll be hearing from me soon. It has been a pleasure Avatar Korra."

"Bye bye ponytail man!" Ikki shouted after Tarrlok.

"Hmph. Well that was rude." Pema muttered.

"Tenzin, I'm not hungry any longer." Korra said and she stood to leave. Tenzin didn't say anything as she left.

"Is Korra sad mommy? Ikki asked.

Pema's eyes followed Korra as she left. "Yes dear, I think so."

"I'll talk to her." Roland said. He thought differently as he followed her out. It wasn't sadness that she couldn't join the task force, more of a sadness or pity of herself.

Korra didn't think anyone would follow her and she grabbed a radio and went out to the training yard to work on some airbending moves to some music. Roland followed her and sat in the shadows as she practiced. Suddenly, Amon's voice came over the radio. Roland couldn't make out what was said, but he could see Korra's eyes and hear that it sounded threatening. As soon as the music resumed, Korra unplugged the radio and took it back to the guard shack and Roland noticed that she started to head back to their room. He decided it would look better if he was already there so he took a quick short cut.

Korra opened the door to see Roland laying back on his bed that had been brought in an placed on the other side of the room. "Hey." Korra said as she sat down on her bed.

Roland thought for a moment. "You dreamed about Amon didn't you?"

"What?" Korra looked at Roland as if he was crazy.

"Last night, when you woke up screaming and thrashing, it was because you are scared of him isn't it?" Roland laid there looking at her.

"Psshh," Korra stood and threw her head back in her best macho stance. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

Roland sat up in his bed. "Heh, then you're either a liar or a fool."

"Excuse me?" Korra asked harshly. He had just insulted her in some way, though she wasn't really sure how yet.

Roland grinned at her before declaring "It was an old saying. Any man who says before a battle that he has no fear is either a liar or a fool."

Korra thought for a moment. "But you weren't ever afraid. You're a Spartan, and a headhunter."

Roland contemplated for a moment. "At first, yes, I was never afraid. In training, Jonah and I slaughtered the competition and the instructors. We excelled at everything and had some of the highest points in the class." Roland looked down for a split second. "But then, we saw action for the first time."

"And then what?" Korra was leaning forward on the edge of her bed now.

Roland looked at her with a look mixed of happiness and guilt. "Korra, you have never killed anyone before, have you?"

"No…" Korra shook her head.

"Nor have you ever had anyone actively seeking to kill you."

Korra thought for a moment. "Well, Amon is kind of."

"No, he will be, but at the moment, you are safe, despite what you dream." Roland had a strange look in his eyes. Almost that of a thousand yard stare as he thought back to his first real combat.

Korra looked away. Roland had her pinned quite well, even better than in training this morning.

Roland thought for a moment. "Korra, I have been on nine different missions where my sole intent was either to kill my enemies, or slip past them so my explosives or sabotage could kill them later." Roland drew his pistol from under his pillow, cleared it, and started to fiddle with it. "I have killed dozens of humans with this alone. Not to mention the probably hundreds I have killed or helped kill."

Korra just looked at him. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Not only that," Roland continued "but I have also killed hundreds, if not thousands of aliens. Grunts, Elites, Jackels, Brutes, you name it, I have probably killed it. Only ever killed one Hunter though… not that any of those mean anything to you." Roland shifted slightly in his seat. "I was ALWAYS scared out of my mind." He smiled a bit. "I am still not sure if Jonah was ever scared though, he may have fallen into the 'fool' category."

"So how did you cope?" Korra thought for a moment. "Let's say I was afraid of Amon and was worried I couldn't fight him. Let's say I heard his voice on the radio after supper I got cold chills down my spine and froze. How do you cope?"

Roland looked up at her deep blue questioning eyes. "You use it. When you feel the fear coming on as if it will choke you, you don't allow it to do so, but you channel it and use it to sharpen your mind, increase your strength, and quicken your responses." Korra nodded slightly as Roland continued. "Think about your fear next time. Pick it apart in your mind, channel it, and use it to help you."

"Thanks Roland." Korra sat down on her bed to think about what he had said more. "See, this is a reason why you can stay with me."

Roland nodded and rolled over to sleep, confident that such a small comment had helped the Avatar a lot. Even though Roland knew he could function with minimal sleep, getting in seven hours, was a blessing he was more than happy to enjoy and so he slipped into a deep, but still light, sleep.

**In Chapter 3, things are still kind of slow, Tarrlok has been introduced, and like the cartoon, you can see the tension starting to rise as people realize that Amon is more than some two bit criminal. Korra, being a human and a bender is rightly terrified of Amon, but Roland is able to teach her some things that can be done to counter a chi blocker attack. I know Korra is supposed to come across as super cocky and arrogant, but personally, if I saw what she did, I'd be terrified of Amon to. That's like so random guy taking on the best MMA fighters in the world and winning in seconds, oh yeah, and he's coming for you to…**

**Might not get a update tomorrow, I'm heading to the beach, so you might have to wait an extra day. **


	5. Chapter 4

**Alright, it's 5:30 Eastern and Chapter 4 is up! Still not my idea or material. I wish I owned it, because I'd have a crapload of expensive stuff, but then, this story probably wouldn't exist. **

**Chapter Four**

It had been several days since Tarrlok's visit and for each day he had sent a page bearing a different gift. First a simple rose, followed by an entire basket of goodies, then stylish dress in Water Tribe colors, and today, a Satmobile racer sat outside of the temple. Ikki and Meelo were in it playing around when Roland walked up to it after training with Korra.

"Out of the way Roland! We're driving here! Vrrooommm Beep Beep!" Ikki swung the wheel about as if she was on a freeway. She was standing on the seat as she couldn't see through the glass otherwise.

"Beep." Meeko laughed as he poked his head out.

"Very interesting. How many other cars are zipping past you?" Roland asked.

"Thousands!" Ikki shouted as she spun the wheel to the right.

"Well, don't get into a crash." Roland patted the hood of the vehicle. "That would be horrible." Roland walked back toward the temple and passed Tenzin on the way in.

"It seems Tarrlok's gifts are getting more and more extravagant." Tenzin muttered as he looked at the satmobile.

"Maybe he'll give her an airship next." Roland replied hopefully.

"Oh I hope not... Excuse me." Tenzin ran towards the satmoblie now. "Meelo, what have I told you about using the bathroom in public!"

Roland chuckled and went to find the Avatar. Other than Bolin's visit a few days ago, she hadn't left the island. He checked the bedroom first, then the dining room. He finally found her talking to Tenzin on the training ground and decided the conversation was not for him so he remained out of earshot. Tenzin stood to go and waved Roland over. "Korra is going to be working on her airbending more today, why don't you head into town or something, you have been cooped up on this island for almost a week now."

"Thanks anyway sir, but I'd just find a way to get into trouble. I'll go work with the White Lotus Guards, with your permission of course."

"Please, be my guest. Parger has already been attempting to replicate several of the moves you used. I'm sure it can't hurt to have you show them."

Roland spent most of the day working with the guards on hand to hand fighting. He also went into knife fighting for a short time, but a guard nearly lost a finger so Roland decided to hold off on that until he could make some type of training knives. As the sun started to set, he set off to find Korra to spend some time getting to know her better. She was a good looking girl and also just about the only one he had ever met, also, he was in a civilian world now. Maybe something could come of it.

Korra was sitting watching Ikki and Jinora play Pai Sho. She was absentmindedly thinking of the guys in her life right now. Many of the girls she had grown up around back in the southern water tribe had married last year or this year. She had dropped into Mako and Bolin's life and they had welcomed her as a friend and team mate. Bolin quite obviously liked her, but Mako was much harder to get a read on. Bolin at times seemed to worship her, he was always trying to get her attention, but also was funny and enjoyable to be around. Mako was good looking, strong, and had a good work ethic, but had never really acted like he might like her And then there was Roland. He had quite literally dropped into her life almost a week ago. He was stronger than anyone she knew, was humble, was lethal, was sometimes funny, was fun to be around, and had no respect for her position as Avatar. He didn't treat her differently just because she had a title in front of her name and because he was sure he could beat her. Secretly, Korra thought he was right.

"Hi Roland!" Ikki and Jinora both shouted as he walked up. This jolted Korra out of her thoughts.

"Good evening ladies. What game is that?" He inquired as he looked at the circular board that was sectioned off into squares.

"Pai Sho. Want to learn how to play?" Ikki asked.

"Ikki, didn't it take you two months to learn how to play?" Korra chuckled as she asked.

"So… Roland is smart!" She said looking between the two of them.

"Come on Roland, we can both teach you!" Jinora motioned for Roland to come over.

"No thanks, I would love to learn later though!" The girls nodded kind of sadly and returned to their game.

"Hey…" Korra said quietly as Roland sat down next to her.

"Evening. How was airbending today? Did you break any wind?"

Korra smiled at Roland's joke and was about to reply when a familiar man caught her eye. The page was approaching yet again with another gift no doubt. She only had time to turn by the he reached them. "Avatar Korra, I have something for you!" He said as if it was the greatest news of all.

Korra jumped down. "It doesn't matter how many gifts Tarrlok sends" She earth bent the page around and kicked him in the butt to get him on his way. "I'm not joining his task force."

The page recovered his balance and turned back to face her. "It's not a gift, it's an invitation."

"To what?" Korra asked suspiciously as she closed the gap between them once more.

"Tarrlok is throwing a gala in your honor. All of Republic City's movers and shakers will be there." Korra read the invitation. "The councilman humbly requests your attendance."

Korra thought for a moment. "I'll come, but on one condition." The page raised his eyebrow. "My friend here will need a suit." Roland looked at Korra quizzically.

"Absolutely. I will have one for him in the morning!" And with that, the page was off.

Korra walked back up the gazebos steps and sat back down by Roland. "I'm not so sure about this." Roland muttered.

"Why not? It'll be fun to get off the island. Tenzin and his family can come to. It'll be good!"

Not wanting to argue, Roland decided to leave it at that.

**The next evening **

"Ugh, I always hated my dress uniform." Roland tugged at the suit as they walked up the steps into the party. "Although I only ever wore it once or twice."

"You look handsome." Pema encouraged him. "Stop being a soldier and go be a young man for the evening."

Roland nodded as they opened the door. How hard, or bad, could it be? Nothing here could be worse than getting shot at, so he decided to go for it. Korra looked great in the dark blue dress Tarrlok had given her. She had done her hair a little differently than normal, with most of it running down her neck.

Roland shrugged. Good looking girl, nothing to speak of to lose as the kids ran ahead, he took Korra's arm and ran it through his. Korra looked at him and blushed slightly. "By the way, you look great tonight." He said. "And we can't have the Avatar waltzing in without an escort, no can we?" He asked smoothly.

The three kids laughed and ran ahead as applause started when people noticed Korra. "I can't believe this is all for me!" Korra whispered to Roland.

"Why not, you are the _Avatar._" Roland dragged her title out a bit.

"Still, it is an honor." Korra said, ignoring his comment.

Tenzin leaned down next to the two of them. "I'm not sure what Tarrlok is plotting, but keep your guard up. It's not like him to throw a party just for the fun of it."

"Speak of the devil…" Roland whispered as Tarrlok moved through the crowd towards them.

"So glad you could make it Avatar Korra!" Tarrlok looked at Tenzin and Roland. "If you'll excuse us, the city awaits its hero."

"Roland can come to." Korra said, not removing her arm from his.

"Oh no… Meelo no! That is not a toilet!" Tenzin shouted as he ran towards his son. Roland had to smile as Meelo urinated into a flower pot near the stairs.

Tarrlok maneuvered Korra and Roland through the crowd to an honored guest. "Korra, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Republic cities most famous industrialist Hiroshi Sato."

"Nice to meet you." Korra bowed.

He returned the bow. "We're all expecting great thing from you."

"Right… greatness." She spoke with a slightly depressed tone. So many people expected so much from her already.

"Hey Korra! Hey Roland!" Mako shouted through the crowd. He approached with a beautiful girl on his arm.

Mr. Sato motioned to the young woman hanging off of Mako's arm. "This is my daughter, Asami."

"It's lovely to meet you, Mako has told me so much about you." Asami batted her eyes at Mako.

"Really?" Korra crossed her arms. "Because he hasn't mentioned you at all. How did you two meet?"

"Asami crashed into him on her moped." Bolin chimed in.

Korra looked worried and reached toward Mako. "What? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. More than fine! Mister Sato agreed to sponsor our team. We're back in the tournament!" Mako seemed incredibly happy about everything. Before Korra could return to holding on to Roland, Tarrlok grabbed her and saw Chief Bei Fong.

"Chief Bei Fong!" Tarrlok motioned for her to come over. "I believe you and the Avatar have already met." She glared at Korra.

"Just because the city is giving you this big to do, doesn't mean you are something special. You have done nothing to deserve this."

Tarrlok nodded and steered Korra away from her and towards the stairs. Roland noticed several reporters starting to gather as Tarrlok led Korra to the front of the room. "If you'd be so kind, they just have a few questions for you." Tarrlok smiled crookedly.

The reporters took off with questions. To Roland they all blended together. All he heard were Korra's replies. "I think he presents a real problem. Well, I…. What? No I've never backed away from anything in my life!"

"Are you afraid of Amon?" One reported shouted over the crowd. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Roland and Tenzin shared a look of worry.

"I'm not afraid of anybody!" Korra shouted. "If the city needs me then… I'll join Tarrlok's task force and help fight Amon." Tarrlok smiled as if it was his plan all along.

"Oh lord…" Roland muttered.

"There's your headline!" Tarrlok shouted as the reporters scattered, no doubt to get to their papers.

Tarrlok and Korra returned to the party and she found Roland's arm again. However, she didn't speak other than polite greeting for the rest of the night. Finally after meeting dozens of people, Korra stood on her toes to whisper in Roland's ear. "You were right, this wasn't a good idea. I'd say it's time to leave."

Roland nodded and the tuned to leave. "I never really liked any type of formal anyway, plus my pistol is rubbing a bit."

Korra smiled as they made their way to the door. "Avatar Korra!" Tarrlok ran to catch them. "Tomorrow, dusk, at the Police Head Quarters." He looked at Roland. "Please come alone."

"Roland could be a great help!" Korra said.

"I doubt it… you can't even bend, can you?" Tarrlok asked, looking down his nose at Roland.

"No sir, I cannot. However, if you would like to step outside, I'm sure we can remedy any confidence issues you have in my fighting ability." Roland said confidently.

Tarrlok was taken aback by the answer. "No, that won't be necessary. Come an hour before dusk so we can see what he is made of." Roland and Korra left the building, both breathing a sigh of relief to be out of the place.

Getting back to the island wasn't hard when you had a water bender with you. They returned to their room and Roland stripped his dress clothes off and placed them neatly under his bed. Korra left the room to change and when she returned, Roland was already asleep.

_I swear, it seems like he can sleep anywhere at any time at a moment notice. _She thought, and with that she climbed into her own bed, confident that the next day would be a difficult one.

**The next evening, again. **

"OOFF!" One of Tarrlok's water benders was thrown to the ground and the earth bender with him had his nose smashed in. Roland stood over the two benders confident he had won. Tarrlok had intentionally tried to make it look like Roland couldn't cut it, bit what he didn't realize was to make a Spartan quit, you had to kill him. To make a headhunter quit, you had to kill him and his buddy, then watch yourself for explosives.

"Very well, Roland, you can take part in the raid." Tarrlok huffed as healers helped his two men. "Let us go to the briefing room."

A short briefing followed entailing location, likely number of hostiles, and avenues of escape. Roland only had one question. "What are the rules of engagement?"

"Captured is preferred. Dead is better than escaped." Roland nodded and chambered a round in his pistol. _I wonder if a metal bender could form more bullets for me…_ Roland thought as he holstered his pistol. He and Korra were wearing what everyone else in the task force was wearing, a set of armor that seemed to specifically be built to stop blunt attacks, like chi blocking.

The Task force moved down to the lower level of the building and climbed into a dump truck with a tank built in for carrying water. The drive was less than twenty minutes with them tucked away in the bed of the truck. Roland winked at Korra as the truck slowed to a halt. They all jumped out and Roland peaked through a window. Inside, several men and woman were training in hand to hand combat, specifically going for pressure points. At the back wall, a huge posted of a masked man was plastered up and Roland assumed this had to be Amon.

Korra was at the window next to him and she gave Tarrlok a few hand signals. He then relayed even more signals to the other men. Oh how Roland longed for these people to get to see a closed communication system.

A man at the top of the truck undid the lid and bent the water out to all of the other water benders. They stood at the ready and Roland saw Tarrlok nod. The water blasted through the windows and knocked several of the equalists off their feet. Earth benders knocked holes in the walls and stormed through with Roland and Korra hot on their heels.

After a few quick blows and most of the equalists were incapacitated by Korra or the other benders. However, one seemed to have been passed over and was recovering from the shock of their entry. He stood to fight as Roland rushed towards him. The man threw a blow that landed on Roland's shoulder. He felt a slight bump through the armor, but it did nothing. Roland grabbed the man's outstretched arm and snapped the elbow backwards. The man cried in pain and tried a wild haymaker towards Roland's head.

Roland caught it, and broke the man's wrist as well. He smashed his boot into the man's foot and then brought his knee up roughly into the man's stomach. He allow the injured man to fall to the floor and looked around the room. The only thing his eyes locked onto was an activating gas grenade flying through the air at them, however, Korra froze it with the gas trapped inside. Two equalists had slipped out the back way and Korra took off running after them. "I'm going after those two!" She shouted as she gave chase.

Roland followed right behind her as she busted a door down and chase the two down a narrow passage way. Suddenly he saw her falling and a man in some type of odd suit dropping from the rafters above her. Another dropped in front of him, Roland didn't even have to think as a double tap left his pistol, striking the man in the chest and the head and causing him to collapse. _One hundred and seventeen. _Roland thought.

"Korra?" He looked at her, but saw her standing over the other man, earth from the walls and floor was dislocated and had been smashed into the guy. "Nice." Roland smiled, but Korra looked horrified when she saw the guy he had taken.

"What did you do?" Korra drew some water and tried to bend over to heal the man.

"My job…" The man had a small hole just between his right eye and his nose. The back of his head was nonexistent and his blood and brains had sprayed all over the tunnel walls. The chest shot looked much less gruesome, but it was where most of the blood was leaking out of.

"Maybe I can." Korra knelt beside the man.

"No Korra," Roland cut her off. "he is dead. He has a hole in his chest and nearly lost his head. He is gone. I killed him, just like I have killed others and just like I will kill more."

Korra looked up at Roland as Tarrlok raced around the corner. "Roland got him." Korra muttered pointing to the very dead man. "I got the other one." Tarrlok nodded but didn't say a word. They posed for pictures with the captured prisoners; however the body of the dead man was covered and brought out the back way. Just like a politician.

A press conference was held the next morning about the raid.

"Avatar Korra has bravely answered the call to action. With the two of us leading the charge, Republic City has nothing to fear from Amon and the Equalists." Tarrlok was talking the crowd up. Roland stood off to the side waiting for Korra to respond.

"Question for the Avatar!" A woman stood in the crowd. "Amon remains at large. Why have you failed to locate him?"

Korra bowed up and grabbed the microphone. "You want to know why? Because Amon is hiding in the shadows like a coward!" Her hand swept the room. "Amon, I challenge you to a duel, no task force, no chi blockers, just the two of us tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing, if you're man enough to face me!" She slammed the microphone down and stormed off the stage to a hail of questions from the reporters.

"I'm not sure that was a wise idea." Roland said as Korra stormed by him.

She looked back at him. "I said no Task Force for a reason. Don't try to help Roland, I need to do this myself." Then she continued to walk out of the building. Roland sighed and followed her out.

"You know, when I said to use your fear, I didn't mean to run at it guns blazing."

"Just don't follow me." Korra stormed off toward the water front. Roland shook his head and took off running in the direction of Air Temple Island. It was only about lunchtime. If he hurried, he could set up in a hide and watch all evening. He knew the reporters had irritated her, but this was not the method to use.

A few hours later, Korra stood in a small boat just off the city dock. It was already well into the night and she was preparing to leave when Tenzin swooped down in his glider and landed next to Tarrlok. "Korra, this is madness!" He yelled.

Korra looked up at him. "Don't try to stop me, and don't follow me. I have to face Amon alone."

"This is all your doing." Tenzin glared at Tarrlok.

Tarrlok shook his head. "I tried to talk her out of it too, but she's made up her mind." He shrugged his shoulder slightly.

With that, Korra launched off from the pier. Tenzin looked around. "Where is Roland?"

"Korra was very adamant that he not follow her. I didn't see where he went after that."

Tenzin nodded. "Then at least there is some hope then."

Tarrlok looked at him quizzically. "Roland is probably already on the island at this point." Tenzin said with a sly grin.

Tarrlok nodded. "We'll be watching the island closely. If anything goes wrong, I have a fleet of police airships ready to swoop down."

Korra arrived on the island and climbed to the top of the base of the statue. There she sat from around eleven until two in the morning. She flinched at every sound, never realizing that it was Roland watching her. With his first slip up, he had nearly fallen off the building. From there though, he realized how much it was messing with her and was simply throwing small pebbles around the statue. This had been a stupid plan on Korra's part and Roland was enjoying stressing her out.

Finally Korra stood and stretched. "Guess you're a no-show Amon. Who's scared now?" And with that she walked to the edge and started to climb down. Roland followed silently at a distance. She walked with her hands stretched behind her head and didn't even bother to check her corners.

_Stupid _ Roland thought. _I am going to have to teach her a lot of things. Like always having your guard up, keeping your head on a swivel, and always having back up. _

As she walked past the darkened entrance to underneath the statue, Roland heard a small whizzing sound at the same moment she did. A bola wrapped around Korra's feet knocking her to the ground and then pulling her into the darkness. Roland ran to the corner and peaked around. He saw a few blasts of fire come from Korra, but with his enhanced vision he could see all the chi blockers surrounding her. It was over in moments.

Assuming that these were just normal trained people, Roland rolled around the corner into the shadows and skirted along the wall. Two chi blockers grabbed Korra by the arms and lifted her to her knees. Roland was about twenty yards away and could see a robbed man walk out.

_This man has to be Amon._ Roland thought. "I received your invitation young Avatar." He spoke sinisterly. Roland raised his M6C and lined up on the man's head. Regardless of if a man thought he was a god or not, a .45 caliber bullet entering his cranium would stop him cold. He reached down and cupped Korra's chin.

"Our showdown, while inevitable, is premature." Amon's voice echoed off the walls in a sinister manor. "Although it would be the simplest thing for me to take away your bending right now, I won't. You'd only become a martyr. Benders of every nation would rally behind your untimely demise, but I assure you, I have a plan. And I'm saving you for last, then you'll get your duel, and I _will_ destroy you."

Roland saw Amon draw his hand back to strike and squeezed the trigger. Amon landed the blow, knocking Korra unconscious, but Roland's bullet found its mark. A distinct ping could be heard from the round hitting Amon's mask. The bullet knocked him to the ground, but the mask that hid his scars had saved his life.

"What was that!" Amon roared. The chi blockers all spun around began to look. Suddenly, eleven wisps echoed through the chamber followed by six thumps as chi blockers hit the ground either dead or mortally wounded. Inside of the enclosed room, the smell of cordite started to disperse to where the surviving Chi Blockers could smell it.

"I have no idea what magic or bending this is, but down the tunnels now!" Amon roared as he and his men fled. In the background, the sound of a new magazine sliding into Roland's weapon could be heard echoing.

_One hundred and five. _Roland thought.

He checked his corners once more and cautiously moved into the light. He saw movement coming into the chamber and prepared to fire, but it was simply Tenzin running to Korra's crumpled form.

Korra weakly mumbled "Aang?" the name of the last Avatar from what Roland had gathered.

"Korra! Korra, are you alright? What happened? Was Amon here?" Tenzin fell to his knees next to Korra and lifted her up slightly.

Korra rubbed her neck. "Yeah, he ambushed me."

"Did he... did he take your bending away?" Tenzin asked cautiously. Korra flicked her wrist and created a flame in the palm of her hand. "Ah, thank goodness."

Korra broke down and grabbed onto Tenzin, sobbing into his chest. "I was so terrified, I felt so helpless." She choked out between the sobs.

Tenzin wrapped his arms around her. "It's all right, the nightmare is over."

Korra released her death grip slightly and looked up at Tenzin. "You... you were right. I've been scared this whole time. I've never felt like this before and I don't know what to do." Tenzin wrapped his arms around her again.

"Admitting your fears is the first and most difficult step to overcoming them." Korra looked at him once more and Tenzin looked around. "And having friends you can rely helps to."

Korra pulled away and looked around the room. Four chi blockers lay dead and two were mortally wounded and bleeding out. Roland stood with his knife drawn over one of them. "I wasn't sure exactly what removing a person's bending looks like… I didn't want to take a chance with you Korra." He said solemnly.

Korra wiped her eyes on her arm and walked over to Roland. "Thank you." She said. Roland was about to reply when she grabbed him in an embrace, burying her head into his shoulder. "I should have listened to you. I shouldn't have come." It sounded funny coming from his chest, but Roland realized that she meant it.

"Don't worry about it." Roland whispered to her. "It is the past, all we can do now is move towards the future."

"Thank you for not listening to me." She said, pulling away slightly.

"Eh, I've done it before, I'll probably do it again."

Tenzin walked up and looked over the dead chi blockers. "Thank you, Master Roland." Tenzin bowed slightly. "This has definitely made your stay with us worth it. You are welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Thank you Tenzin." Roland looked down at the bodies.

"Traitor…" One moaned out. Roland released Korra and walked over to the dying man.

"And how do you come to that conclusion?" Roland asked, playing with his knife in front of the man.

"You don't.,.. carry yourself like… a bender." The man wheezed. This was the man Roland had only shot once. The bullet had collapsed his left lung and probably damaged the heart. Death was only minutes away.

"I'm not." Roland replied stoically as he removed the man's mask to show a middle aged black haired man.

"Then why… haven't you joined… us?" The man was obviously struggling to speak.

"Maybe some people just don't want to see others exterminated like dogs." The man wheezed and sighed some more. Roland looked up at Tenzin. "Do you have cancer here?" Roland asked, as he then tilted his head slightly to get a better look at the dying man.

"Not that I know of?" Tenzin replied "What is it?"

"In my world, cancer is when a part of the cells in your body becomes infected. It can live in people for years and they never even know about it." Roland paused for a moment. "Cancer eats away at the rest of the body. What it can't infect, it destroys."

Korra stooped down next to him. "How do you cure it?"

Roland grinned slightly. "You cut it out." He looked at the man again. "You see, to this city and nation, you are a cancer. You can't tell cancer to stop bothering anyone, you can't work slowly to remove it, you have to cut it out quickly, and completely."

Korra looked about for some water to heal the man. "Korra, I would prefer it if you and Tenzin leave." Roland said looking at Tenzin. "I want to know the location of the equalist hideout so this man and I are going to have a little chat."

Korra stood there, but Tenzin grabbed her by the arm and led her out. She heard a few muffled screams and then silence as Roland walked out a few minutes later.

"Well?" Tenzin asked.

"He gave me it. It is in the industrial sector, near where they had the first rally." Roland looked at Korra. "I'll give this information to Tarrlok and he and his men can strike. We are not going."

Korra nodded. "That is fine with me." She said as she started to rush into the room again. She already had water prepared, but Roland's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Korra, he's dead." Roland said bluntly but with compassion. She let the water fall to the floor. "Let Tarrlok's men come and clean up the mess. We can leave now." Korra nodded slowly and allowed Roland and Tenzin to escort her back to the island.

**Got a lot going on in this chapter. The first people were killed, and Korra didn't take it very well. I did this to kinda poke fun at how Nickelodeon didn't want to have anyone die in TLBA, hence the ability to remove bending. We also have Tarrlok now. I pretty much thought the guy was a slime ball the entire time. He reminded me a lot or Palpatine from the Star Wars series. First hints of romance between Korra and Roland, and the first appearance of Amon. Always go for center mass shots! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. Still not my material. It's been brought to my attention that some of my homonyms are incorrect: Waste instead of Waist, the wrong There, They're, or Their. If you see any, please feel free to PM me! It only takes me two minutes to fix it and repost the chapter on the site. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Chapter Five**

It had been two months since the "showdown" at Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Tarrlok had raided the area Roland had gotten out of the wounded man, but it was found to be empty, but just barely. It seemed as if people had busted their butts to get everything out of there as quickly as possible.

With Mister Sato sponsoring the Fire Ferrets, Korra had started to focus more on training with Mako and Bolin. She still had her daily training with Tenzin and Roland, but would then leave for training at the probending arena. Roland had gone out on a few more busts with the Task Force, but nothing had really happened. He hadn't even had to fire his pistol. In his free time, Roland had been training the White Lotus guards and going out on the town with them. He had gotten to know the city rather well so far.

Tonight was the big night for the fire ferrets. The semi finals for the pro bending arena were happening that evening. Korra had already left for practice when Roland decided to follow.

"Hey Asami." Roland jogged slightly to catch up with her in the hall heading to the gym.

She looked over her shoulder to see who it was. "Oh, hello Roland. How are you today?"

"Fine, thanks. Where're you headed with all that?"

Asami looked down at the clothing she was carrying in her arms. "These are the Fire Ferrets new uniforms for the tournament."

"Gotcha, need any help?" Roland offered his hands to take some of it, but Asami shook her head as the two of them entered the gym.

The three Fire Ferrets were huddled in the center of the room. Mako seemed to be giving some sort of pep talk. All Roland caught was when he raised his voice. "Are we ready?"

"We're ready!" Korra and Bolin shouted.

"Not quite, you'll need these." Asami said holding up the new uniforms from the side of the gym.

"Hey, Asami." Mako said as he jogged over, seeming to completely ignore Roland.

"Good morning, sweetie."

"These new uniforms look great!" Mako said as he held one up.

"You look great, champ!" At that, the two lovers did an Eskimo kiss. Roland chuckled at Korra and Bolin's disgust.

"Well, teammates, I'll see you before the match tonight. Asami and I have a lunch date." Mako took Asami's arm in his as they walked out.

"See ya bro!" Bolin called after them. Roland still apparently had yet to be noticed. "So, Korra. There they go, here we are, alone in the gym, just you and me, two _alone_ people. Together. Alone."

Korra looked at him for a second then picked up her bag and was about to say something when Roland cut it. "Dang, what am I? Chopped tiger seal liver?"

"Oh, hey Roland…" Bolin said, followed by some murmuring to himself.

"Hey Roland." Korra said with a smile.

"Good day to you both. Now that I have gotten that sorted… Korra, what are you doing until the match this evening?" Roland inquired.

Korra thought for a moment. "Nothing, why?"

"I figured you might like to go check out the Republic City Park. Legally this time… From what I've heard, your last two visits haven't been the best."

Korra grimaced at the thought of the park. "Roland, I'd love to, but I promised Tenzin I would come train with him because I came right here after our training this morning."

"That's fine, Don't give it another thought. Go get ready for the match tonight." Korra almost swore Bolin cackled a bit with glee when she left. "So, Bolin, you want to spar?" Roland asked as Korra looked over her shoulder and smiled at the look of fear on Bolin's face. She was out of earshot before he could reply.

She went straight to the island and trained with Tenzin until dusk. She ate lightly and then went out with Jinora and Ikki to feed fruit to the ring tailed lemurs before she left.

"So Korra, how is it going with the tall handsome firebender?" Jinora asked slyly.

"What?" Korra asked, she was taken aback by the bluntness of the question.

"Or do you like Roland? He did save you and he's a super tough soldier and all." Jinora thought aloud about the two for a moment.

"You can't pick can you?" Ikki shouted. "Tell us about the magical romance with the two of them!"

_Wow… am I that easy to read? _Korra thought. "Listen to you two, I-I'm not interested in Mako or Roland for any romantic stuff." Korra coughed. "Besides Mako is all into that prissy, beautiful, elegant, rich girl... and Roland is to focused on the Task Force and on fighting," Korra looked around before lowering her voice "but let's just pretend for a second I am interested in them. What would I do?"

"You should do what I read about in a historical saga!" Jinora shouted.

"What is it?"

"Well, this girl liked two different boys, so she went to a wizard and he created a magical spell that would make her true love fall for her and the other on become the wizards slave. But in the end, both became the wizards slaves and rotted in dungeons forever because neither was her true love. It was awesome."

Korra looked shocked. "I don't think that is a good idea."

"No, you have to do the potions, but make it a love potion that makes them both fall in love with you! Then you don't have to choose!" Ikki shouted.

"And suddenly the wizard is sounding better to me now." Korra heard a laugh behind her and jerked around to see Pema standing there. "Oh, Hey Pema… How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." Pema smiled at her. "But trust me, I kind of know what you are going through. Years ago I was in a similar situation with Tenzin."

"You liked someone before Daddy?" Jinora asked.

"No silly, Daddy liked someone else and me. He ended up having to pick. What finally caused him to pick though was me sticking my neck out and telling him I liked him."

"And that worked?" Korra asked.

"Yes, but you are on the other side of the coin. Somehow I doubt either of these young men will confess their love to you. Maybe you should just not worry about it for now and see how it turns out."

Korra thought for a moment. "Yes, maybe after the tournament."

"Aww…" both girls sighed.

"Well, speaking of the tournament, I need to head there now!" Korra said as she grabbed her training bag, glad to be away from the girls for the night.

"Bye Korra!" Both girls shouted and with that, she made her way to the arena.

Roland watched the fight that night. This was the first time he had seen a game and he didn't think it was supposed to be quite so one sided. The Fire Ferrets crushed the Rabbiroos three to zero. He chalked the win up to the amount of training the team had put in beforehand. As the final round wound down, Roland headed to the locker room to great the winning team.

"Nice job guys!" Roland said as they came in.

"Thanks!" The three said almost in unison.

Asami walked in behind Roland and went straight to Mako. "You all did amazing out there." She tried to make it sound like she was complementing everyone, but it was easy to see she was directing it a Mako. The kiss on the cheek only helped add to that conclusion.

Korra had her fist balled up in anger. She looked at Roland. "Roland, do you still want to go to the park?"

"Sure, I haven't got any plans." Roland said. Bolin looked defeated as they left shortly followed by Asami and Mako. Bolin grabbed his things and stomped off to his room.

Korra and Roland didn't say much while they were at the park, but finally Korra spoke. "So, how have things been going with the Task Force?"

Roland thought for a moment. "Fine, I guess. Tarrlok wasn't thrilled when you stopped showing up, but I think he understands he needs to keep you happy."

Korra nodded. "So what have you been doing in your free time? It seems like we have been around each other less and less recently, even though we share the same room."

"I have been going out with Parger and a few of the others. They are all really great and have been showing me around town." Roland looked at her. "And you are the one who has been training all day and exhausted every time I come in to our room."

"Yes, I have been training a lot, but it'll all be over in a few days."

"And then what?" Roland asked solemnly.

"Amon, I guess. I still don't think I can take him… maybe you can just shoot him." She said hopefully.

Roland patted his M6C. "It would have been a lot simpler if I had just shot him in the chest a few months back… stupid hollow points didn't cut through his mask. Oh well, live and learn."

"Mind if I ask you something as a friend?" Korra asked. They had walked almost around the entire park now.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Roland replied cheerfully.

Korra waited a second before asking "If you could go home right now, would you?"

Roland paused and thought for a moment. "Yes and no. I would go home if I knew that Jonah was still there. I would love to bring him here, but I don't think that is happening. However, if you don't include Jonah, there is nothing tying me back to my old world. I have friends here now in you, Mako and Bolin, and Tenzin and his family. I have a home, an income, and a life ahead of me. So, no, I don't think I would go back."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to leave anyway." She smiled and left it at that.

"So, now it is my turn to ask you a question." Korra looked at him quizzically. "One of the other guards is from the Northern Water tribe. He said they marry between fifteen and seventeen there. Can the Avatar even have a family?"

Korra was slightly shocked at the question. "Well, Aang did, I don't see why I can't."

"Okay, I was just wondering." Roland seemed content to leave the question at that.

"But as far as the marriage, I really have no idea. I could be married now if I had wanted to be, but I hadn't met any guys worth marrying when I was fifteen." Korra kicked a rock with her toe absentmindedly.

"How about now?" Roland was getting almost too personal for Korra's liking, especially since she had decided she didn't want to worry about this at all until after the tournament.

"Yes, there could be one or two now." Korra left it at that.

Roland thought for a moment, but chose not to continue down that path. They finished walking the park and started to head for home when Korra heard a familiar voice coming from a restaurant across the street.

"Come on man, leave me alone." Bolin said irritably.

She looked at Roland and he nodded. The two of them ran into the noodle restaurant to see what was wrong. A group of people were crowded around Bolin who was sitting by himself in a corner booth.

"Bo, what's going on?" Korra shouted over the crowd.

Bolin was pressed into a corner with a 'pretty boy' in his face mocking him. "I didn't do anything to you man, just go away." Bolin wasn't fighting back, which was odd, even for him.

"You made it to the tournament. That's enough for me." The pretty boy jeered.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Korra snapped.

The guy turned around to face her. "Look who it is, the Avatar here to rescue her teammate."

"You wanna go toe-to-toe with me, pretty boy?" Korra asked, standing up slightly on her tip toes to face him.

"Go for it. I'll give you the first shot." He replied snobbishly.

"Korra, don't do it…" Bolin cautioned her. "That's Tahno, from the Wolf Bats. The Champions for three years in a row."

"Well, I'm waiting." Tahno said. He looked past Korra and saw Roland standing there. "Who's this? Does the Avatar have a little boy friend?" Korra bowed up again and drew her hand back to strike.

Bolin grabbed her arm and cautioned her once more. "Korra, don't. He's just trying to bait you. If you hit him, we're out of the tournament."

"What if I hit him?" Roland asked as he took a step forward.

Tahno looked slightly taken aback and his friends thought for a moment. "Well, you're not actually affiliated with the Fire Ferrets or with Mister Sato, so no, nothing would happen if you hit him." Bolin grinned a bit at Tahno, knowing full well what was coming.

Roland lightly pushed Korra aside and looked down at Tahno. "Now it's your turn buddy. I've killed plenty of worms, and one more wouldn't make me lose any sleep."

"Ha!" Tahno flipped his hair to the side. "You're probably some firebender who just wants a fight against the best."

"Nope." Tahno looked at Korra, almost looking for conformation.

"An earthbender?" He jeered. "You can just go ahead and keep your dirt to yourself because.."

"Nah, to dusty." Roland cut him off and grinned. "I have allergies."

"So you're a water bender, and you want to go toe to toe with me!" Tahno was actually shocked at the concept.

"Never said I was." Roland stated.

"Haha, if you're not a bender, you must have had one drink to many, buddy. I'll clean the floor with you." Tahno turned to leave. "I'm doing you a favor, trust me."

"Go ahead then." Tahno looked back at them as Roland spoke. "Of course, this means you can leave my buddy Bolin and Korra alone until after the tournament."

Tahno looked to his teammates for back up. One gave him a slight shake of the head. "We'll murder the Fire Ferrets, and then I'll come looking for you." Tahno swelled himself up to be as big as possible, but failed miserably. "Come on, let's blow."

Roland smiled as they walked out. "Thought for sure I'd get to have a real beat down just then."

Bolin just sat there for a moment. "You told off the entire team… not just Tahno, but the entire Wolf Bat team and they walked away." Bolin thought for a moment more. "It's just not fair… I want to be a super soldier."

Roland sat down next to him. "It's not all it's cracked up to be. Now, what do these Water Tribe Noodles taste like?"

Korra slid into the booth next to him. "You know, it has been awhile since I even had any."

They both ordered what Bolin was having and waited for it to come out. Korra dug into hers, but Roland sniffed it cautiously. "If tathes gweat!" Korra mumbled between mouthfuls. Roland took one bite and clenched his eyes shut.

"It tastes like someone took some noodles, wiped their crap off with them after using the toilet, and then proceeded to cook them in the same soiled water, and brought them out to us." Bolin grinned as Korra downed one bowl and Roland pushed his in front of her. "Enjoy." Korra smiled at him for just a moment before diving back into the noodles.

They made their way back to the arena together. That night, they had another match, this time against the Boarcupines. It went well, only a few small slip ups between the three Fire Ferrets. After a solid win, the Ferrets parted ways. Korra walked out to a balcony kind of below the guys room. She sat there thinking until footsteps came up behind her.

_It will either be Bolin or Roland. _Korra thought. However, as she turned, it was Mako.

"Hey." She said, turning back to the view of the ocean.

"Korra, I need to talk to you." Mako said in a serious tone.

Korra turned around and leaned against the rail. "What's up?"

"Bolin is really falling for you." Mako looked down and kicked a small pebble. "I don't really know who you like right not, but please don't lead him on."

Korra nodded. "I know you just want the best for him."

"Thanks." Mako turned to leave, almost slamming into Roland. "Sorry. I was just leaving."

"No one's fault." Roland nodded as the two past each other. He walked over to Korra and leaned on the rail next to her.

"What'd you think of the match?" Korra asked.

Roland thought for a moment. "It went well. You three could brush up on a few points, but otherwise you're doing fine."

Korra didn't respond for nearly a minute. "Remember our conversation earlier?"

"Whichun?" Roland thought back to earlier in the park.

"Right before the restaurant and Tahno."

"About marriage." Roland said it more as a statement than as a question.

"Yeah. I want to ask you something else." Korra fidgeted with her hands nervously.

"Okay, shoot." Roland was ready answer, and had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"Can Spartans have families?" Korra asked.

Roland pondered the question for a second or two. "Probably not. With the amount they deploy, there is never and shore leave." He paused before continuing. "Physically, I have no idea. The augmentations may have removed that from us."

"Would you even want a family?" Korra inquired.

"I've thought of that a bit. I could always adopt if nothing else. Heh, and orphan adopting. Sounds kinda funny." Roland smiled as he thought about it.

"Yeah…" Korra zoned out a bit.

"So… who are those two guys?" Roland asked semi cautiously.

Korra seemed to shake the daze off slightly and look at him. "Huh?"

"Who are the two guys you mentioned? You know, the ones you said were worth marrying." Roand had stood up a bit, no longer leaning on the rail.

With that question, Korra threw caution into the wind and smashed her lips into his. At first, Roland had no idea what to do. She had just kissed him, but then he started to push his against her lips as well. Their arms wrapped around each other and they held the kiss for what seemed like an hour to both of them, Korra finally broke the kiss. "Does that answer your question?" She asked quietly.

"Oh boy…" Roland sighed.

"What!" Korra asked thinking Roland was rejecting her, but then noticed he was looking over her shoulder.

She looked where Roland was looking and saw Bolin standing there holding a dozen flowers. When she made eye contact, still with her arms around Roland and her face only inches from his, Bolin broke into tears and took off running.

"Dang it Korra." She said to herself as Bolin rounded the corner out of her line of sight.

**Alright, so I'm not very good at any type of romantic scene, sorry there was no action in this chapter other than an almost fight, but you have to have these to make the story flow. **


	7. Chapter 6

**Alright, since Chapter 5 was the shortest yet, I decided to post up Chapter 6 today as well. Still not my idea or my stuff. **

**Chapter Six **

Mako and Roland walked towards Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. "I mean, it wasn't your fault. She kissed you." Mako said as the two men walked towards the door.

"How do you know?" Roland asked.

"Heh, about that. Our window overlooks the balcony y'all were on. Just sayin." Mako pushed the door opened. "Morning, Narook. My brother here?" The old man behind the counter pointed to the same booth Bolin was in the night before.

"Thanks." The two of the walked over to Bolin who was slumped over a bowl of noodles.

"Can you get drunk on noodles?" Roland asked, prodding Bolin with his finger.

Mako shrugged and shook Bolin. "Come on. Wake up. We're taking you home, bro."

Bolin's head swayed as he lifted it from the bowl. He pointed an accusing finger at Roland and shouted, "Why is HE here!" With that, his head hit the table. Roland suppressed a smile. He knew that Bolin had liked Korra and he had probably helped crush the poor guys spirit, but this was pretty hilarious.

"Because he is your friend, and I am your brother." Mako replied sternly, but with compassion.

Bolin shook his head into the table. "He's no friend of mine. He is a friend betrayer!"

"You're a mess and we've got the biggest match of our lives tonight." Mako sighed. He looked to Roland. "Let's go." And the two reached for Bolin.

Bolin swatted Roland's hand away. "No! I'm not going anywhere with you, you traitor!"

"Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way…" Roland said. And with that, he grabbed Bolin and threw him onto his shoulder.

"Nooooo! Why?" Bolin cried.

The walk back was actually quite amusing for Mako and Roland. Bolin on the other hand threw a fit the entire time.

"Told you dating a teammate was a bad idea." Mako reminded Bolin.

"_You're_ a bad idea!" Bolin shouted back. He started kicking and thrashing about. "Put me down! Put me down!" Roland simply tightened his hold a little more.

"Mako, Are you mad at Korra at all?" Roland asked as Bolin continued to kick and beat on his back. The blows were nothing impressive, and he just allowed them to glance off.

"Yes, but only because she led Bolin on to some extent." Roland nodded and was thankful for that. "I just hope this doesn't affect our match tonight."

The match came far too fast. As soon as the bell was wrung, all three Fire Ferrets were beaten back by the buzzard wasps. Bolin took a hit to the gut that caused him to start to vomit profusely over the side of the ring because of all the noodles he had eaten. It seemed they weren't working well and it just wasn't going their way. At the end of round one, it already seemed lost.

The second round kicked off and Bolin was the first to go over. Korra was fouled and Mako was busy trying to not get hit himself. As the round wrapped up, the Fire Ferrets were giving up hope.

"Well I guess there's always next year." Mako mumbled.

Korra shot him a look. "Come on! We still have a chance, even if it is a slim one!"

"We _were_ playing; we don't even deserve to be in the finals." Bolin muttered back.

Korra looked at the two brothers. "Look, if we don't pull together and work as a team, we'll never forgive ourselves."

Mako sighed again as he started towards the starting line. "Let's just get this over with."

Bolin followed muttering. "The sooner the better."

As the bell sounded, all three of the Buzzard Wasps targeted Bolin. An earth disk managed to land a solid hit in his shoulder which dislocated it and rendered it useless. Bolin's cry of pain distracted Mako for a moment.

"Bolin?" Mako shouted. He was started to go to his brothers' aid when a blast of fire hit him and knocked him off the field.

"Ah crap…" Bolin muttered as he fought on with his one good arm. He managed to throw a disk or two before a one-two combo of water and earth knocked him off the arena as well.

Mako helped Bolin out of the water, being careful to avoid the bad shoulder. "Are you okay? How's your shoulder?" He asked as the two of them walked to the elevator.

Bolin looked at it. "Ahh, it's messed up pretty bad. But I think I'll be all right. Are we... gonna be all right?"

Mako hung his head. "I don't really know. You and I will get on, we always do."

Bolin smiled. "Yeah, we're brothers till the end… Girls."

"Yeah, I'm just not sure how Korra will fit in to all of this. Maybe next year we'll just find another water bender." As the elevator rose, the two brothers were shocked to see Korra dodging every shot the Buzzard Wasps threw at her.

Korra side stepped a blast of fire and dodged another water earth one-two combo like the one that had gotten Bolin. As she dipped and dodged, the three Buzzard Wasps accendently lined themselves up for a solid shot. Korra launched a massive blast of water that managed to knock all three off the ring, winning the round for the fire ferrets! "Did you see that?" Bolin mumbled.

"Yeah, I guess we're still in this." He looked at Bolin. "I know you like Korra and all, but you need to get this resolved before the finals."

Bolin nodded as Korra walked into the locker room. "We won!" She shouted.

Bolin nodded. "Well, you won. Thanks for not giving up on the team."

"We never would have made it this far without you. I owe you. Big time." Mako said.

Korra smiled shyly. "You're welcome. So... I know things are confusing right now, but I hope we can all still be friends."

Bolin stood up and the three were almost in a huddle. "Of course we can. If you want to kiss super soldier boy, that's your call." Korra smiled. "I still say I'm better looking." Korra grabbed both brothers in an embrace.

"Ow! Shoulder! SHOULDER!" Bolin cried in agony.

"Sorry." Korra said, releasing her hold. "Let me look at that." She sat Bolin down and peeled back his shirt."

Just then, the Wolf Bats entered the locker room. Tahno entered last with a look of disgust on his face. "Oof, you boys smell something in here?" He looked at his two teammates. "Wait, I know what that is. Yeah, that's the scent of losers."

Korra bowed up to him. "I hope we see you in the finals. Then we'll know who the losers _really_ are."

"Oh, I'm peeing my pants here… no little boyfriend to stand up for you I see." Tahno looked around the room once more just to be sure.

"I can handle myself just fine!" Korra shouted as Roland and Asami entered the room.

"Do I need to beat someone for you Korra?" Roland asked glaring at Tahno.

"He was just leaving… but even if he wasn't, I'd have to say you need to get in line." Korra sneered at him as he walked out.

Tahno flicked his hair as the Wolf Bats entered the arena and prepared to fight.

"Great job!" Asami shouted as she embraced Mako. "What a comeback, Korra. I've never seen a hat trick like that."

"Yeah Korra, that was really good. I thought you three were out for sure." Roland laughed.

"Thanks Asami! But- if it hadn't been for you and your father, we wouldn't have had the chance to play. So thank you." As Korra finished, she just glared at Roland for a moment for thinking she was done for.

"Uh, if everyone's done with the little "thank you" party, I need some medical attention over here." Bolin cried.

"Ooh, let me help!" Korra said as she placed both hands on Bolin's shoulder. It looked rather squared and was already bruising from the impact of the stone disk.

"Owww! Gah! Haven't you hurt me enough, woman?" Bolin hissed as he tried to shrug Korra away.

"Relax. You know I'm a healer."

"Yeah I do, but look how Roland turned out… ohh that feels good." Bolin sighed and relaxed as the southing water hit his shoulder.

"Bolin, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, but I really do like Roland. You're gonna find a great girl though."

"Ahh, I'll be all right." Bolin shrugged with his good arm. "Like I said, if you want to go kiss and then maybe even go out with super soldier boy, you can. I'll be here looking good and acting charming if you need me though."

"I think your shoulder is dislocated from the impact," Korra glanced at Roland as he walked around behind Bolin. "we're going to need to take you to a doctor to get it set back in the socket."

"That's fine, I can handle" The joint made a wet shhnick as Roland pushed it back into place. "AHH!" Bolin grabbed his arm and coddled it with his good hand. "What'd you do that for?"

Roland shrugged "Basic first aid. You just have to slip the ball back into its socket. It can be bad if you tense for it though."

"I pretty much hate you right now." Bolin hissed. He had his eyes screwed shut from the pain. Korra reached down and applied more healing water to the injury, dissipating the pain quickly.

"Thanks." Bolin sighed.

Korra looked up as the announcer shouted over the loud speaker. "And your winners, the Wolf Bats!"

"What, how can it be over already?" Mako pushed Asami away and ran to the edge of the locker room. Korra walked up next to him and they saw the opposing team being helped away, most of them injured.

The Wolf Bats left through the other locker room, but the Fire Ferrets were already thinking of what needed to be done.

Mako looked at his team mates. "Get a good night sleep, and be ready to train tomorrow. Roland, I'd like you there as well to help." Roland nodded and they all went their separate ways.

It only took the two a few minutes to return to the Temple as paddling was much slower than water bending. It was nearly midnight when Roland entered their room. Korra had gone off for a quick shower.

Roland took off the brown jacket he had bought and then his shirt in silence and folded them both neatly next to his bed. The jacket was great to keep the light snow off, but the shirt was starting to become worn with a few small holes appearing. "Guess I'll need to find some new clothes soon." He muttered to himself. He also kicked off the shoes Mako had given him and then pulled his sheet back and laid down. He rolled over and saw Korra walk in. Her hair was still soaking wet and she seemed exhausted. "Don't you usually bend the water out of your hair?" Roland inquired.

Korra shook her head to clear it, which sent small water droplets all over the room. She looked at him. "Yeah, I guess I just have a lot on my mind." She proceeded to bend the water out of her hair and toss it out the window before she flopped back onto her bed.

"No kidding." Roland held up his hand and started counting fingers. "You have the tournament finals tomorrow. You are still dealing with Amon, we have a good bit more to go over, especially with what you missed the last few days, and you still can't air bend."

"Thanks for reminding me." Korra huffed.

"Eh, you'll be fine. Only one of them can kill you." Roland rolled onto his other side, facing away from Korra.

"Yeah…" Korra mumbled again. She was already nearly asleep.

"Hey Korra…"

She lifted her arm up under her to look at him. "Hmm?"

"You did do really well tonight." Roland laid back on his bed. "And you looked good doing it."

Korra smiled weakly. "Thanks…" She managed before she dropped her head back into the pillow.

"Just get through tomorrow and everything should smooth out a bit." When Roland didn't hear a response, he correctly assumed that the Avatar was already asleep and choose to do so himself.

**Seven Hours Later**

Morning came far too early for the Avatar, but Roland was already wide awake. Korra rolled herself out of bed and stretched before heading to the dining room for breakfast. She was probably late, but today, she could care less. When she entered the room, Roland was talking with Jinora about one of his engagements.

"So why didn't you shoot the girl?" Jinora asked quietly but with excitement.

Roland looked up and saw Korra come in. "I don't really know. Now that I think about it, she looked a bit like Korra, although I never would have known it at the time."

Korra sat down next to the two of them and listened as she ate. "Roland was telling me about when he was injured. They were with the OBSE's attacking a floating space rock that was a base! Roland was sneaking around and was about to blow up some of the incursionists, I think their like equalists, when he saw a girl that looked like you and he didn't shoot her." Jinora rattled off the tale in mere seconds.

"Sounds riveting." Korra smiled. "Who are the OBSE's?"

Roland grinned. "It is the Oh Dee Ess Tee's." He corrected. "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Men who fall from orbit straight into the battlefield."

Korra nodded, the concept of dropping from orbit was completely foreign to her. "So what happened next?" She sipped from a glass of tea as Roland continued.

"Well, I had placed charges in order to blow the shack because it held the gate controls. As I went in, I slotted two incursionists, but a third one spun on me but didn't shoot. I was already set to fire, but for some reason she distracted me. I chose to leave her alone. I turned my weapon and walked towards the door way."

"How did you get injured, Roland?" Jinora asked with some sympathy in her tone.

"Well, this girl ended up firing anyway. My armor would have stopped it just fine, however, one of her bullets hit the explosive charge, detonating it and almost killing me." Roland paused to think. "Jonah butted heads with some people to get me extracted."

Jinora thought for a moment "He was your friend right?"

"Yes, he was." Roland dipped his head momentarily out of sadness, but looked back up quickly. "I'll tell you all about him sometime. If you'd like, that is."

Jinora's face lit up with excitement. "I can't wait! Listening to a real person is so much better than just reading it!" Jinora stood, bowed, and left the room.

"I can't really picture you not killing someone." Korra said after a moment's pause.

Roland shrugged. "I'm still not really sure why I didn't, but you live and learn."

Korra finished the last bite of her breakfast. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah…" Roland stood and thought for a moment, then shook his head to clear it and turned to leave.

Korra was right behind him. "What's on your mind?" She asked as she walked next to him.

"Last time someone asked me that, I nearly died." Roland said almost coldly as they walked down the steps to the dock.

"What do you mean?" Korra asked.

"Jonah asked me that right before we were ambushed on our last mission. He asked if I was ready to go, and I replied with 'yeah, this place is dead anyway.' No sooner could I finish than I got stabbed through the back and then I awoke here."

"Hmm, then I guess you'd better be thankful." She said wryly.

"Yeah, I got to meet Bolin." Roland smiled. "He's a laugh a minute."

Korra just glared at Roland for a moment and they walked in silence down to the boat.

"I was kidding you know." Roland said as he climbed into the boat.

Korra pushed them off using her bending and started towards the Arena. "I know." Korra said playfully. "We should talk, about us."

Roland thought for a moment. "Okay. Why did you kiss me the other night?" Korra hadn't expected him to ask her that question. And she wasn't really sure she had an answer to it. Her bottom lip pouted out, and she quickly turned her head away from him and focused on bending them through the water. Roland just sat there but when she didn't say anything for a while, his patience gave out. "You're the one who wanted to talk, so why aren't you talking?" He asked.

"I don't know." Korra said flatly, looking off into the ocean.

"Korra, why did you kiss me?" He asked almost angrily.

Korra's eyes flashed toward his instantly followed quickly by her head and entire body facing him. "Because I'm falling in love with you!" She shouted as a tower of water erupted beside the boat.

It was silent for a moment after that. Neither one of them moved, they just stayed there, keeping their eyes locked to one another for far much longer than was comfortable for Korra. The boat continued with its momentum, but it was slowly coming to a stop. It hurt her to look at his face, let alone look him in his eyes when he showed her such an expression of confusion. She turned away again and sighed as she started to bend again. "It was a spontaneous decision. I didn't know what else to do. I'm not good with this kind of stuff; I don't know how to go about it. But you were being so forceful in trying to keep me safe from Tahno, even though he wasn't really even a threat. You've been training me, and you saved me from Amon and his men. It all just was making… my heart move." Korra took in a deep breath and let if back out slowly. "So I followed it. And I felt if just for that moment, I didn't want to hold myself back from you anymore."

Roland stood up and took her in an embrace. "Korra, I can promise you are better at this than me." He spoke into her ear like he had back at Tarrlok's party. "All I have ever known is a life of kill or be killed. The thought of settling down, having a job, having a girlfriend, heck, having friends to begin with is completely new to me." Korra pushed back a bit to face him. He had his hands on her arms as the boat swayed back and forth slightly from the waves. "The reason Jonah and I did so well together in combat was because we communicated. I don't doubt for a second we can do great if we do the same."

"So, can we try a do over?" Korra asked kind of sheepishly and with that Roland pulled her in and kissed her. It was a short kiss, but it communicated what couldn't be said with words.

"There's no need." Roland said as he released her arms. "The past is the past, even if it was only minutes ago. All we can worry about is the future." Korra smiled at him almost shyly. "And your future involves blasting me with water, but we're going to be late if we don't move it."

Korra chuckled and resumed bending and they were at the Arena in only a few minutes. They ran down the halls to the gym and joined Mako and Bolin for practice. They did the same thing they did before, where Roland was the target against the Fire Ferrets. However, through the extra training they had done, the Ferrets were landing quite a few more hits.

"Alright, I'm done." Roland sighed after nearly thirty minutes of being attacked by the elements. He shook off as much of the water as he could, but his suit still looked terrible. It was wet, covered in dust, singed in a few places, and was already ripping.

Mako jogged over to his bag and removed something. "That's fine, we have some targets." He held up pictures of Tahno and Korra grinned ear to ear.

"We'll, put them up!" She shouted. Bolin turned the radio on, and soon the three were pelting Tahno's face with earth, water, and fire.

When they were almost out of targets, Korra took off her helmet. "Man, I got a good feeling about tonight. I don't care if we are the underdogs. We can take those pompous Wolfbats."

Mako also removed his helmet. "It's going to be our toughest match ever, but I think you're right."

"Introducing your new champs, the fantastic Fire Ferrets!" Bolin shouted in his announcer voice.

The nearby radio crackled and Amon's voice came over it. Everyone looked up in alarm and Roland drew his pistol out of habit. "Good morning, citizens of the Republic City. This… is Amon. I hoped you all enjoyed last night's pro-bending match because it will be the last." Roland and Bolin walked up to the radio. "It's time for this city to stop worshiping bending athletes as if they were heroes. I am calling on the council to shut down the bending arena and cancel the finals or else there will be severe consequences." All eyes turned to Korra.

"That guy's got some nerve." Bolin sighed.

"Think the council will give in?" Roland asked Korra.

"I'm not waiting to find out. We need to get to City Hall!"

The four of them arrived at city hall and Korra led the way as they burst into the chamber. Before Korra could even speak, Tenzin jumped up from his chair. "Korra, you shouldn't be here. This is a closed meeting."

"As the Avatar and a pro-bending player, I have to right to be heard. You can't cancel the finals." Korra took a stance similar to an earth bending stance, showing that she would not be moved.

"I know winning the championship means a lot to you. But as far as I'm concerned, we need to shut the arena down." Tenzin said firmly.

"What about the rest of you?" Korra looked at the other four members of the council. "Tarrlok, there's no way you're backing down from Amon, right?"

Tarrlok also stood. "Actually, Tenzin and I agree…. for once."

"The council is unanimous. We're closing the arena." Tenzin spoke with authority.

"No!" Mako shouted, stepping forward a bit.

"You can't!" Bolin echoed his brother.

Korra looked at Tarrlok. "I-I don't understand. I thought you, of all people, would take a stand against Amon."

Tarrlok dipped his head for a moment before he spoke. "While I am still committed to bringing that lunatic to justice, I will _not_ put innocent lives at stake just so you and your friends can play a game"

"Pro-bending might only be a game to you," Mako shouted "but think of what it means to the city! Right now the arena is the one place where benders and non-benders gather together... in-in peace! To watch benders..."

"Beat each other up! In peace! It's an inspiration to everyone!" Bolin cut in.

Tarrlok sighed, realizing how difficult it would be to get the Avatar and the two brothers to leave. "I appreciate your naive idealism, but you're ignoring the reality of the situation"

"The reality is if you close the arena, you let Amon win!" Korra cried in exasperation.

"Yes, exactly what she said! Yes!" Bolin pumped his first in the air as if he had won the argument.

Roland had simply stood there the entire time. "I agree with Korra." Roland stepped forward a bit towards the council. "Couldn't you use this as a trap for Amon? He would be foolish to attack if he thought he could be captured."

"While I respect your opinion, soldier, I am still not sure if I can trust you." Tarrlok picked up a small wooden hammer. "I'm sorry, but our decision has been made. This meeting is adjourned." As he started to slam the hammer down, a cable shot out of the corner and smashed the hammer in two.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the Avatar." Lin Bei Fong walked out of the corner of the room as her cable slid back into its housing on her back.

"You do?" Tarrlok raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Yeah…. You do?" Korra asked.

Roland leaned over to Mako. "Who's she?" he whispered.

"The chief of police." Mako replied curtly.

"I expected this kind of cut-and-run response from Tenzin." Lin said as she looked at Tenzin. "But the rest of you? Come on, show a little more backbone. It's time the benders of this city displayed some strength and unity against these Equalists."

"We must prevent the conflict between benders and non-benders from escalating into all-out war!" Tenzin stepped closer to her. "The council is not changing its position, Lin."

"Now just a moment, Tenzin. Let us hear what our esteemed Chief of Police has in mind." Tarrlok smiled in a political way as he motioned for the Chief of Republic City Police to continue.

"If you keep the arena open, my metalbenders and I will provide extra security during the championship match. There's no better force to deal with the chi-blockers. Our armor is impervious to their attacks." Lin smiled slightly at the end of her sentence.

Tarrlok stroked his chin. "Are you saying that you will _personally_ take responsibility for the safety of the spectators in the arena?"

"I guarantee it." Lin said flatly.

"It is hard to argue with Chief Beifong's track record." Tarrlok turned to face the council. If she is confident her elite officers can protect the arena, then she has my support. I am changing my vote." Tarrlok raised his hand to show he was voting. "Who else is with me?" The other three council members also raised their hands, leaving Tenzin with his down. "The arena stays open. Good luck in the finals."

The three fire ferrets cheered and thanked Tarrlok, but Roland wasn't in a very excited mood. This was still likely going to resolve in several deaths. HE just wanted to make sure that it was not his own or his friends.

Tarrlok turned to face Lin. "And good luck to you, Chief Beifong." With that Tarrlok bowed and left the room.

Tenzin walked up to Lin and leaned his head over to say something. The two turned and left the room. Korra was too busy planning with Mako to pay much attention. "So, we need to head back and get ready. The match is only a few hours away!"

Mako, Roland, and Bolin turned to leave. "I'll be there in a second. I want to thank Chief Beifong." Korra walked in the direction they had gone.

The three guys nodded and made their own way out as Korra located Tenzin and Lin. As she approached, Lin threw her hands up in the air and shouted. "Do what you want! It's not like I've ever been able to stop you before."

Korra walked up. "Excuse me, Chief Beifong. I wanted to thank you for your help," Lin completely igonored her and started to walk off. "it.. really.. means a lot..." Korra sighed and looked at Tenzin. "What is her deal? Even when she's on my side, she's against me!"

"I've known Lin since we were children, she's always been" Tenzin paused to find the right word. "... challenging."

"What did your father do to make her hate the Avatar so much?" Korra asked.

Tenzin shrugged. "My father and Lin got along famously. I'm afraid her issues...are with me."

"Wait a second..." Korra gasped. "it all makes sense now! You and Beifong, Beifong and you. You two were a couple!"She exclaimed with glee having figured out Tenzin's mystery woman.

At first Tenzin was too shocked to reply. "What! How-? Where did you get that idea?"

"Ha! Your wife gave me the idea. She said she and another girl both liked you. I never would have pictured her though."

"Criminy! I'll have to have a word with her." Tenzin turned to leave.

"So, Pema stole you from Beifong." Korra did kind of wonder what could have happened. "I'm surprised our "esteemed Chief of Police" didn't throw her in jail."

"Oh, she tried. Anyway, Pema didn't steal me, Lin and I had been growing apart for some time. We both had different goals in li..." Tenzin came to a sudden realization as he reminisced. "Why am I even telling you this? It all happened a long time ago and we've moved passed it."Korra shrugged in response, but her grin was still there. "Anyway, this is none of your business!" Tenzin turned to walk away.

"See you at home, Mr. Heartbreaker!" Korra waved after him, and then she turned to find the guys and maybe get in one more practice before the game.

**So, the last two chapters have set us up for the first major fight, and hopefully, it is going to be a good one. **


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7! Alright, it is still not by material, the only idea I had was to combine the two. **

**Chapter Seven**

"Introducing the challengers, the Future Industries Fire Ferrets!" The ring announcer shouted as the Fire Ferrets walked into the ring. Roland had not been asked by Chief Beifong to help at all for protection so he had seated himself near where the radio announcer sat. This position offered him a good vantage point as well as the extra pair of eyes that the radio announcer had. Roland could hear him chattering away into the microphone about how the Fire Ferrets looked.

Bolin had Pabu, his pet Fire Ferret, do some type of trick for the crowd. Quite a few people cheered as the three teammates waved to the crowds. "And their opponents, the three timed defending champions. The White Falls Wolfbats!" The announcer shouted. The Wolf Bats did some sort of howl and all were wearing some sort of ridiculous costume. Two girls in front of Roland went crazy over seeing them.

_Great, I got the worst seat in the house._ Roland thought as he looked around. He could see Chief Beifong's men stationed at all the different entrances and a few stationed on walkways. Beifong and Tenzin were about twenty yards away from Roland talking to each other. "The anticipation is palpable as we are just moments away from the championship match. Will the Wolfbats' ferocity help them repeat as champs? Or will the underdog Fire Ferrets serve up a surprising bowl of smackdown soup?" The announcer was really getting into it.

Roland glanced at the Arena as the two teams faced off about to start. As the bell sounded, Roland tugged his collar up slightly higher. He had borrowed some clothes from an island guard and didn't want to be recognized. Roland looked back to the game and saw what looked like quite a few fouls coming from the Wolf Bats. It seemed as if the Refs had been paid off for this game.

Tenzin was shouting something at the refs who simply ignored him. A few more hits and from what Roland could see, it was all over. All three of the Fire Ferrets had been knocked out in the first round. The Wolf Bats had cheated their way to victory with ease. Roland looked about once more, now would be the time he would attack if he was Amon. Suddenly, a flash of fire caught his eye. Apparently, Korra had managed to hold onto both the Arena and to Mako, keeping them both from falling into the water thirty feet below. Korra had swung Mako up and the Fire Ferrets managed to survive round one, but just barely.

"These Ferrets aren't just bending the elements, they're bending my mind! The underdogs survive to see round two." The radio announcer shouted with glee.

After a short huddle, round two started. It went quickly, but ended with a tie. Roland saw the ref flip a coin and Korra stepped forward. It seemed that one bender from each team was to face off on a small elevated platform in the center. Korra was fighting Tahno, and Roland couldn't help but watch.

Korra threw a fake right which Tahno easily dodged; however, he was too cocky to see the blast of water Korra kicked up at him, knocking him from the small ring. The two girls in front of Roland were shocked speechless. "Round two goes to the Fire Ferrets!" The announcer cried.

The third round started and Roland new that if an attack was going to happen, it would be soon. He watched as the Wolf Bats slaughtered the Fire Ferrets. _If you cheat, it is easy to win_. Roland thought back to his training. He and Jonah had been taught that in combat, there are no rules, so cheating isn't wrong. You do whatever ever you can to survive. If that means you bite off someone's ear, you do it. Kick them in the balls, that's easy, or even ripping someone's jaw off, could be done. All of them would demoralize and possibly stop and attacker.

However, this was a controlled sport, so when Tahno and his earthbender teammate mixed rocks and water, which Tahno then fired at all three Fire Ferrets heads, easily knocking them out of the ring, it couldn't have not been called cheating.

"Well, folks it's a controversial call but the Wolfbats notch a nasty knockout to win the match!" The announcer sighed a bit. "For the fourth year in a row, they'll be crowned tournament champions."

Roland looked about as the Wolf Bats gloated in front of the crowd. His mind slipped back into Headhunter mode and he knew that an attack was beginning, but he couldn't tell from where. He focused out the booing crowds and the screaming girls in front of him as he scanned the room. His eyes landed on a man with a mask on approaching Tenzin, then a blast of bluish electricity sent Tenzin to the floor. Roland drew his M6C and was about to move toward him, when he saw another masked man entering the radio booth with some type of strange glove. As he shirted directions, he noticed many more masked men all over the arena, and he started to see the metal benders fall.

"There appear to be masked members of the audience wielding strange devices on their hands." The announcer said as the equalist opened the door. "One of them is in the booth with me right now, folks! He is leveling one of those glove devices at me now and I believe he is about to electrocute me. I am currently wetting my pants." The equalist pointed the glove at the man and was about to touch him, when a thump sounded behind them. The radio announcer was suddenly covered in bits of flesh and gore and started to vomit.

Roland stood over the body of the equalist. "Are you alright?" He asked as he turned to check his back.

"Yes." The announcer managed to say before he hurled again.

"Good." Roland checked the radio to ensure it was still in working order. He had pretty much covered the small room in blood and gore and the dead man on the floor was just adding more to it. "Get on your radio, explain what is happening and how Amon is attacking." Roland holstered his pistol and untied the dead man's mask to put it on his own face. There was a little bit of blood, but Roland hoped no one would notice.

"What are you going to do?" The announcer asked as he picked up his microphone.

"Kill him." With that, Roland pulled the electric glove off the man and put it on himself.

"Folks, I've just been saved by a passing bystander!" The announcer stated. He had slipped back into his annoying radio voice as soon as Roland left.

Roland could see Korra, Mako, and Bolin being pulled from the water unconscious by an equalist. He decided that unless Amon was with them, they were in no great danger. He'd have to look somewhere else. "I believe I have your attention, benders of Republic City." Amon used the arena microphone and the crowd fell silent. "So once again, the Wolfbats are your pro-bending champions. It seems fitting that you celebrate three bullies who cheated their way to victory because every day, you threaten and abuse your fellow non-bending citizens just like the Wolfbats did to their opponents tonight. Those men were supposedly the best in the bending world and yet it only took a few moments for me to cleanse them of their impurity." Roland noticed the Wolfbats being thrown into the water by Amon's men. He had equalized them when Roland was in the radio booth.

"Out of my way." Roland hissed. The mask and glove made people shrink back stay away from him as he headed for the center or the arena.

"Let this be a warning to all of you benders out there: if any of you stand in my way, you will meet the same fate. Now, to my followers: for years the Equalists have been forced to hide in the shadows, but now we have the numbers and the strength to create a new Republic City. I'm happy to tell you that the time for change has finally come..."

Roland noticed an airship positioning itself over the top of the glass dome that covered the arena. "Very soon, the tyrannical bending regime will be replaced by a fair-minded Equalist government. You and your children will no longer need to walk afraid. It's time to take back our city. For centuries, benders possessed an unnatural advantage over ordinary people but thankfully, modern technology has provided us with a way to even out the playing field." Other masked equalists had formed a barrier to prevent the crowd from rushing Amon. Roland slid into the group with ease and held up his gloved hand, just like the others around him. "Now anyone can hold the power of a chi-blocker in their hand. My followers and I will not rest until the entire city achieves equality and once that goal is achieved, we will equalize the rest of the world. The revolution has begun!"

At that moment, cables shot down from the airship. Roland glanced about and saw that all of the equalists around him were collapsing back on the cables, so he followed as well. The cables had small platforms attached and the equalists quickly started to climb aboard. Roland and another man both jumped onto a platform and started to be lifted towards the ceiling as did the other two dozen or so equalists. Amon was in the center of the group on a platform to himself. Roland looked down to see Korra rising on a jet of water towards them, the look on her face was one of rage, however, the water started to fall away when she was only feet from them.

"No!" Korra screamed as she fell away. Avatar or not, a fall from this height would kill her. It took all the discipline Roland had in him to not scream for her. He kept his eyes glued to her as she fell. When she was only a few feet from the floor, he saw a grey blur snatch her from the air. Chief Beifong had swung in using metalbending, and barely saved the young Avatar. Lin nodded to Korra and prepared to throw her after Amon.

With a snap from the cables, Korra was sent flying through the air towards the slowly rising elevators. Korra sent a blast of fire towards them and Roland saw two equalists drop off their lifts to face the Avatar as the blast of flames hit the bay of the ship, narrowly missing both Amon and Roland as the two of them entered the darkened hanger bay. The flames did however hit the man Roland was riding with and he fell away into the darkness.

Roland paused for a moment and got his bearings. The ship was dark and several men stood around waiting for orders. "Sir, what of the two men below?" A man asked Amon.

Amon turned to face them. "We must leave them. Come, it is time to escape before things get out of hand."

Roland was standing next to a female equalist, but other than that, no one was within five yards of him. Roland smashed the glove into her, sending her into convulsions as he drew and aimed his pistol at Amon. "Amon!" Roland shouted. "It ends here." And with that, Roland fire two bullets, but the airship rocked from a fireball Korra had sent after it. One bullet struck Amon in his right shoulder, as the other narrowly missed and struck another man behind him. Roland attempted to fire a third shot, but his had pistol jammed after the second round was fired. Roland cursed his bad luck and the fact that he couldn't shoot with one hand.

"I don't know who you are, but you will die." Amon snarled as he moved towards him. Roland started to back pedal as he pulled his mask away and slid the glove off his hand. He quickly removed the jam and pointed the pistol at Amon. Amon had closed to within three yards of Roland, but with the pistol trained at his chest, he froze.

"Shall we try this again?" Roland asked as he applied slight pressure to the trigger.

"Don't do it." Roland had only heard that voice in his dreams for the last several months.

"Jonah?" Roland's head shot a glance at the voice, but he kept the pistol trained on Amon. There he stood. Roland's partner for years was on a slightly elevated platform a few feet from Roland.

"Drop it Roland." Jonah had his M7S suppressed sub machine gun leveled on Roland's head. He wore the same uniform that the other equalists did, however he was not wearing the helmet.

"You wouldn't shoot me." Roland said calmly. "This man is a monster!" his eyes darted about looking for a way to escape; however, he slowly realized the stupidness of this situation. He was flying in the air, with a ship full of bad guys and no way out.

Jonah shook his head. "No Roland, he is going to be saving this world. Can't you see? They are just like the humans in our world. The benders, they are the aliens trying to destroy everyone." Roland just looked at his friend shocked. "Join us." Jonah held out one hand in a sign of friendship. Roland's eyes noticed a rusty hinge on the floor. It seemed as if he was standing over a door of some type.

Roland glanced back at Jonah. Something seemed off about him. For one thing, he was hiding his southern accent quite well, almost as if it was a sign. Usually, when they spoke to each other, neither used many words, because no much needed said. Amon drew Roland's attention back on him. "Your friend is right, soldier." Amon held his hands at his side in a non threatening way. "I am here to make this world better. You saw what I accomplished in the arena, no bending is the way of the future!"

"Join us Roland, it'll be like old times in training, just the two of us training to be Headhunters, and no one else." Roland knew that was a lie, there had been eight other teams training to be Headhunters with them. Roland really hoped he knew what his partner was doing, because it seemed like he was trying to push him away.

"No." Roland replied flatly. "You have it all wrong Jay. These Equalists, they are no different than the terrorists back on Harvest and on countless other planets."

Jonah sighed and Roland noticed a scar across his face that hadn't been there last time he had seen him without a helmet. "I am sorry, my friend. Maybe if you had been with us from the start, you would see this differently."

_Bullets or broken bones? _Roland thought. _Bones heal. _"I think the same could be said for you." Roland jerked his pistol off of Amon and shot the hinge, sending him and the unconscious body near to him plummeting to earth. Roland heard Jonah cry out as he fell and saw him poke his head over the edge of the door. Suddenly, Roland felt himself impact a soft leather saddle.

"Glad I caught you." Tenzin said from the front of the saddle.

Roland had seen the flying Bison from a distance, but had never ridded on one. "So am I." He coughed to regain his breathing as he laid back against the tanned leather. "Jonah… why?" Roland thought as they returned to the Pro Bending Arena.

They returned to the arena and found Korra and Beifong. "I can't believe Amon did this. I played right into his hand." Lin shamefully said to Tenzin.

"He played us all." Tenzin put his hand on her shoulder. "Republic City is at war."

"Korra!" Mako and Bolin ran up before she could say a word to Roland.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Mako sighed in relief.

Bolin grabbed both of them. "Me too!"

As Bolin set them down, Korra turned to face Roland. "Are you okay? Where were you?" She asked, in a slightly hurt tone.

"I went after Amon." Roland checked his pistol. "I shot him in the shoulder this time."

Bolin's mouth dropped open. "How did you get close enough?"

Roland touched the mask hanging around his neck. "I killed one of them and took his mask. Then I simply followed them up."

"So you shot him?" Mako inquired.

"Yes, but my pistol jammed. Then they played their wild card." Roland sighed deeply out of sorrow. "My partner, Jonah. He is working with Amon."

Korra touched Roland's arm out of sympathy. "Roland, I am so sorry." She said gently.

"It is alright. He had an interesting point, if I had been with them to begin with; I doubt I would have hesitated to shoot you, but I think it was all an act." Roland glanced about to see dozens of police personnel moving throughout the arena. "A lot of what he said was not right, and he didn't sound like himself."

"Maybe he was trying to show you he was on your side." Korra offered hopefully.

Roland nodded silently as Mako spoke again. "So how did you get away? Weren't you up in an airship?"

Roland grinned a bit. "I shot the floor out from under myself and thankfully, Tenzin caught me." Tenzin nodded to Roland out of recognition.

"You really are crazy." Korra smirked as she hugged Roland.

Roland hugged her back warmly. "Can we get out of here, or do you need help?" Roland asked Tenzin.

"Head on home and get some rest kid." Lin spoke up. "You've done enough for tonight."

"Thank you. I am Roland by the way." Roland stuck his hand out. "I don't believe we have formally met.

"No, we have not." Lin returned his hand shake. "Lin Beifong. Chief of Police for Republic city. Or at least until today. Nice job Roland. I'm sorry you couldn't get the slime ball, but you got closer than anyone else did."

Korra led Roland away and out of the Arena. In the harbor, boats were ablaze and the Arena behind them was in shambles. "I've got my work cut out for me." Korra sighed sadly. She looked about once more as fires reflected off the water, casting interesting shadows on Roland's face as he turned her toward himself and kissed her.

"You'll do just fine." Roland said as he broke the kiss. "Want to know my advice?" Korra nodded as she looked up at him. "Fight Amon like the Wolf Bats did to you tonight. You don't have to fight fair, you fight to survive and win."

Korra nodded and elevated herself on her toes to softly kiss him again. "I have to survive." Korra blushed as she spoke. "Someone has to be able to heal you."

Roland looked at the girl in front of him. Her mocha brown skin looked so foreign in the light of the fires and her blue eyes reflected the flicker of the lights behind him. She had torn her shirt slightly and had a few small cuts and scrapes, but to Roland, she looked beautiful. "I am glad you are safe." Roland hugged her to his chest.

Korra gazed at him. "What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"When you did that thing like a water elevator, I was on the elevators with Amon and his men. I saw you fall away…" Roland was silent for an instant. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Korra held onto Roland. She was starting to see why Asami and Mako were with each other so much. "Where are we going to go from here?" Korra asked referring to their relationship.

"Honestly Korra, I'm not sure." Roland released her and leaned against the railing.

Korra thought for a second. "Well, I need to finish with Amon, but from there…" She wandered off into thought.

Roland wrapped his arm around her side and the two stood in silence looking out over the water. "Do you remember when you asked me if I'd go home?" Roland spoke after several minutes. Korra nodded in reply. "Well, I know now my answer is never. This is my home now, and I will do all that I can to help stop Amon, and I'll be by your side every step of the way."

Korra smiled at the man she thinks she loves. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

**There you go, Chapter 7 is up. Sorry it is a little shorter than usual, but I got all I wanted to across in only 7 pages. Thanks for all the reviews already and hope y'all enjoy. **

**A slight update for you as well. It is looking like this will be a fanfic somewhere around the 20 chapter mark. I have just started on chapter 18, and hope to be able to finish in only a few days. If you have anything you think I should throw in to the story, send me a PM, I'd love to be able to try to incorporate any ideas!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Alright, I'm getting stuff done ahead of schedule, so enjoy another chapter for today! This is still not my property. **

**Chapter Eight**

Roland sat on his bed deep in thought. It was breakfast time, but Korra had already left to go tell Mako and Bolin the good news. She had convinced Tenzin to allow the two brothers to live on the island because the Bending Arena was being closed. However, Roland didn't even think of the two brothers or even of Korra right now. He was deep in thought about his squad mate. The first thought that crossed his mind when he awoke was that he only had one hundred and two bullets remaining. That very quickly led to thinking of Jonah and the fact that he was in line with the equalists.

"Hey, Master Roland." Roland looked up as Jinora's soft voice came from the doorway. "Will you be joining us for breakfast this morning?"

Roland smiled kindly at her but shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I am not hungry this morning."

Jinora entered the room slowly. "Is Jonah a nice man?" She asked. "You said you would tell me about him."

Roland motioned to Korra's bed and Jinora sat down. "He was a good friend. I don't know if you could call him 'nice' though." Jinora gave him a questioning look. "What I mean is we are both trained to kill, however, Jonah liked to take it much farther than just doing his job. I could never see him with a family."

"But didn't you want him here?" She asked.

"Yes, but now that he has come, I am not so sure." Roland thought for a moment. "He would be a valuable ally, but if he is with Amon, he will be a hard opponent."

"Is he an ally?" Jinora asked hopefully.

Roland shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. Some of what he said makes me think not, but we'll see."

The two sat in silence for a moment. "Did you enjoy killing people?" Jinora asked innocently.

Roland had to think of how to word his response. "I never had a hard time killing aliens, but I think part of that is that they are nothing like me. Also, they wanted to destroy all humans, so that made it even easier."

"But what about people?"

Roland lowered his head to stretch his neck a bit before replying."I killed people because it was my job. I only ever hesitated once, but I didn't always agree that we should be killing them."

"So you just did your job?" Jinora looked at him as if he was slightly crazy.

"Yes Jinora, I did my job. Many times, I worried about nothing more than myself and Jonah. If we got out, I was fine with whatever else had to be done."

"I don't think I want to be a soldier." Jinora murmured.

Roland smiled as he stood. "I don't think you should be either. There are plenty of others who can. You should just focus on becoming a master or something."

Jinora smiled up at him and was about to reply when the door slammed shut. They both looked to see Korra standing there irritated.

"Hi Korra, I was just leaving." Jinora could tell that Korra was angry and left quickly.

Roland sighed and sat back down. "You've got your _I'm pissed about something look_ on right now." Korra slumped onto her bed with a huff and placed her head into the pillow. Roland crossed his arms. "You gonna tell me what it is, or make me guess?"

Korra rolled her head slightly to talk. "It's that Sato girl…" Korra's voice was slightly muffled by the pillow. "She already offered to let the guys stay at her house."

Roland rolled his eyes. "So, what do you care?"

"They're my friends. I had to convince Tenzin to let them stay here, and they are already both running off with Asami." Korra kicked her bed post hard enough that it cracked.

Roland thought before he spoke. "Korra, we just had a fight with Amon last night, and you're still really stressed out. Why don't you worry about this in a few days?"

Korra sat up. "Because I wanted them to come here. I know it sounds weird, but I want them to be protected. They are my teammates and my friends; I can't let anything happen to them."

"Then go visit them every day." Roland suggested.

"Hmmpf. _Miss _Asami already invited me over tomorrow." Korra said mockingly.

Roland stood and walked to the doorway. "I'm not really sure what your problem is, but I'm going to get some breakfast. Just go have fun for a day before the serious kicks in."

Korra turned to see his back leaving. "Fine." She muttered as she stood up. "I'll do just that. Right after I kick your butt in sparring."

The two headed to the training area and quickly were engrossed in fighting.

"No, use my weight against me." Roland demonstrated a move once more for Korra before he grabbed her from the backside. Korra threw her right elbow at his face, dropped her body weight, grabbed his right leg and rolled into a summersault, allowing her to lock Roland's leg into what could be a very painful hold.

"How's that?" Korra's voice was slightly strained from the effort of pulling on Roland's leg.

"Perfect. Now, if I was a normal person, my hip would be out of place and I would be screaming in pain."

Korra stood up quickly. "Good thing you're not normal then." As Roland started to lift himself up, she placed her foot on his chest and pushed him back down. "Look, I have defeated the mighty Spartan!" Korra mocked. She looked down at him and saw the look in his eyes and realized that might not have been the best idea.

At that moment, Roland spun his leg out knocking Korra to her back. Before she could move, he had pinned all four of her extremities and his face was only inches from hers. He smiled broadly as he spoke. "Look, I have defeated the great Avatar."

Korra rolled her shoulder a bit to try to get up. "Alright, let me up Roland." She mumbled.

Roland kept her pinned to the stone floor. "I don't know, I kind of like this position, and there is not much you can do about it. Is there?" He held his face a few inches from Korra's.

"I could burn your face off." Korra smirked.

"We both know you wouldn't do that." Roland grinned as his face moved even closer to hers. "Plus, how can you if I do this?" Roland avidly kissed the girl he had pinned below him.

Korra arched her back to kiss him as well. After several moments, Roland broke the kiss and beamed at her. "You're right. I wouldn't burn it off." Korra whispered with her lips brushed his as she spoke.

Roland set his forehead on hers, but he continued to keep her arms and legs under his control. "You know, even when you're mad, you're stunning."

Korra's cheeks turned bright scarlet and she slightly averted her eyes from his. "I'm sorry for being kind of short with you." She leaned up and kissed him again, but only for a moment.

"You're forgiven." Roland said as he released her arms and stood up. He held his hand down to help the Avatar to her feet. As she stood, Roland noticed two guards peeking out from behind a building. "I think we had spectators." He jibed.

Korra's eyes darted around until she saw the two helmets. "I'll blast them both." She hissed as she started towards the hut.

Roland grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. "What does it matter? So what if they saw us kissing. It's not like it's a secret or anything."

"That's not what…"

"Wait!" Roland cut her off. "Your embarrassed to be with me aren't you?" Korra looked at him mortified and tried to respond, but he wouldn't let her. "I see how is it…" Roland frowned as Korra tried to reply.

"Roland, no, I…. umm… gah..." Korra stammered.

"Well?" Roland held the frown for about two more seconds before a smirk replaced it. "You know what; I even like you when you're completely confused."

Korra just stood there for a moment with her arms crossed. "I'm not sure I like you doing that." She stated irritably. "You are too good of a liar to be funny."

Roland bowed mockingly. "I guess I'm just that good." He retorted with a smile.

"Fine. I won't barbeque them." Korra compromised. "Besides, I have to go to air bending training now." She bowed to Roland. "Thank you _Master._" And with that, she ran off to find Tenzin.

Roland grinned as she ran off. He grabbed his things and returned to their room. He found Parger and the other guards huddled around the guard shack murmuring about something. He strolled up to see what it was.

"There's no way. No one but a bender has ever been on her force." One guard mumbled.

Roland gently pushed a few of them out of the way and saw a young messenger sitting in the center. "What's going on?" Roland asked, looking at the faces of the guards standing around him.

"He's the one." Parger said to the messenger.

The young boy stood and bowed to Roland. "Master Roland, I have a message for you from Chief Beifong." The lad handed Roland a folded sheet of parchment.

Roland opened it and read these words: "Roland, I have heard several stories of you strength and skill. You have already served on Tarrlok's task force, and I would like to extend the offer to have you work with my men. Come to the Police Station if you want in. Chief Beifong"

He just shook his head in amazement. An offer to work with the most prestigious group in Republic City. The messenger looked at him. "You're answer, sir?"

Roland didn't hesitate. "Wait here. I'll be back in just a moment." Roland jogged back to the room and grabbed his bag along with one hand grenade and a charge of C12. He had his pistol already on his hip and the knife strapped to his leg. Roland quickly scribbled a note to Korra and left it on her bed. The boy stood there surrounded by the guards when he returned. "Alright kid, lead the way." Roland stated as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Yes sir." The boy looked at the guards and then proceeded to lead Roland to the Police Station.

As they climbed the steps in front of it, Roland gazed at the statue of Toph Beifong, Lin's mother, and the founder of metal bending. "She was quite a woman." Lin mentioned as she walked up behind Roland. She paid the boy and led Roland inside.

"So, let me get this straight." Roland set his bag down and stood in front of Chief Beifong. "You want me, a nonbender, as part of the most prestigious task force in Republic City?"

Beifong nodded. "I want to see how you'll perform. We have a raid in an hour. Are you in?"

Roland reached down and checked his pistol before looking back up at Beifong. "I'm in." He declared.

"Good. I'll show you where to go from here."

Beifong led Roland into the center of the building. There, a metal bender custom fit a suit of armor to Roland in less than a minute. Beifong then took him into the briefing room where Tenzin of all people was giving the briefing.

Roland fumbled with attaching his holster to the armor as he spoke. "I thought you were training with Korra?" He inquired as the holster finally slid into position.

Tenzin raised an eyebrow at Roland. "I have her meditating and practicing a few basic moves." He paused and continued to look at Roland. "That's more than what you went over with her, so I hear." Roland grinned slightly embarrassed the Tenzin already knew what had happened. "But either way, we have to get on with this."

Roland took his seat and listened as Tenzin and Beifong explained how a company, Cabbage Corp, was allegedly involved with Amon and the Equalists. The plan was simple, they had a warrant to search, so this would be a simple search and find mission. Roland didn't even have to think as he climbed into the airship with the other metal benders. They flew to the target area and as the metal benders used their cables to descend, Roland grabbed a think pair of gloves and slid down. His enhanced legs cushioned the impact as he struck the hard concrete and jogged over to one of the buildings.

Tenzin swooped down on his glider and touched down next to Roland. "I hope we are not wrong in this raid, otherwise it will look very bad for Chief Beifong." Roland nodded to the airbending master and followed a few metal benders inside a warehouse.

"Hey, soldier, rip that one open for us." A metal bender shouted from atop a pile of crates.

Roland grabbed the two edges and tore the lid off as if it was paper. He moved some sawdust around and it revealed several of the electric gloves the Equalists used. "Chief, I got something for ya!" Roland shouted holding up one of the gloves.

"Looks like our intel was good." Chief Beifong took the glove from his hand and inspected it before placing it back into the box. "There's enough evidence here to bury Cabbage Corp for an eternity."

"I guess this was an easy one then." Roland looked about and saw the metal benders finding large numbers of equalist posters and fliers. "Gonna be an open and shut case."

Beifong nodded and stalked off toward her men. The task force secured the evidence and boarded the airship yet again as the sun started to rise, this time; they headed to Cabbage Corp headquarters. When they arrived, Roland was part of the blocking group that formed a corridor as the CEO of Cabbage Corp, Lan Gan-Lan, was escourted from the premises. Even Roland grinned when the man cried, "Not my Cabbage Corp!" as he was loaded into the back of a police truck.

The entire entourage returned to police head quarters where Tenzin and Chief Beifong started the new morning conducting interviews about Amon. Roland sat and waited in the lobby until he was told what to do. He thought about getting some sleep, until he noticed Tahno sulking and looking very depressed in a seat across the aisle, but didn't want to talk to him. Roland glanced about and saw Korra walk into the headquarters.

She walked in and stood right next to Tahno and didn't even recognize him until he spoke. "Hey, Korra." He almost moaned.

"Tahno?" Korra sat down next to him. She was taken aback by his presence, but still tried to engage him in conversation. "Listen, I know we're not exactly best friends, but I'm sorry Amon took your bending" Korra tried to comfort the exbender.

"I've been to the best healers in the city. Whatever Amon did to me, it's permanent." Tahno looked down at the ground again very depressed. He had bags under his eyes, and his hair was a complete mess. Finally he looked up at Korra with a fire in his eyes."You gotta get him for me."

Korra nodded her head. "I will." She said, determined to avenge Tahno's loss.

"Just think," Tahno leaned back in his seat. "now we'll never know who was better, me, or your cocky friend over there." Tahno pointed out Roland who had been sitting quietly with his arms crossed.

Korra didn't even noticed Tenzin, Beifong, and Sato walk out. She darted over to Roland and grabbed his hand. "I had to ask the guards were you'd gone." Korra complained. "Don't do that again. I didn't really know where you were all day."

Roland smiled and leaned his head against hers. "I'm fine. I'm a Spartan, I can handle myself."

"Tell me next time." Korra mockingly hit him in the arm, just hard enough to show she meant it.

"Mr. Sato, if you remember anything else about what you saw during Amon's attack, be sure to let us know." Chief Beifong was finishing her interview with Sato.

"I'm happy to help any way I can. I want these Equalists to pay for what they've done" Both parties nodded and went their separate ways.

Beifong marched towards Tahno. "We're ready for you now." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Tahno stood and took a few steps in the direction of the interview room before turning back around to talk to Korra. "I still say I would have beaten him. See you around..." A small smile appeared on his face. "_Ah_vatar."

"You would have been able to take him, couldn't you?" Korra whispered to Roland.

He simply nodded in response as he watched the depressed, forlorn figure walking between Tenzin and Beifong. A person who only days ago had been rich and powerful, reduced to nothing. "I can't say I feel bad for the guy, after all, he did cheat to win. But it would still suck to be in his place." Roland looked back at Korra. "Where are you off to?"

"To Asami's" Korra sighed. "I still really do not want to go."

Roland shrugged. "It's that or come watch me sleep." He quipped.

Korra stuck out her lip. "That might be more enjoyable."

Roland stood to leave. "Have a good day, remember, it is going to get worse, so enjoy the days you can." Korra nodded and waved to him as he left. It took him nearly an hour to return to the island, and after rowing the boat and being up all night, he hit the bed and dreamt of only blackness.

**I considered throwing a fight scene in, but this is another of those story line chapters. Gotta have them to make it flow. I figured I'd go ahead and throw this chapter up because it is a shorter one. I'll probably be doing another double update in the next few days. What do you think, is Jonah gonna be a valuable friend, or vicious opponent on the side of Amon? **


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. As always, this is not my stuff. **

**Chapter Nine**

Roland wiped the sleep out of his eyes as the early dawn light peeked through the window. Korra laid spread eagle with her sheets all across her bed. Roland smiled and sat up straight. His back popped slightly when he reached for his clothes and he remembered all that had happened over the last day or so. _I'm getting soft…. I used to kill for days on end with no sleep, and I just slept for at least sixteen hours after just one all nighter._ Korra also stirred and she yawned deeply as she sat up.

"So, how'd it go yesterday?" Roland asked as he dressed.

Korra just stared at him sadly. "I believe Sato is involved with the equalists." She said matter of factly.

Roland shook his head to clear the sleep fog in his mind. "Say what now?"

Korra sighed. "I was using the restroom yesterday when I overheard Sato talking to one of his associates. It sounds like he framed Cabbage Corp." She laid back on her bed roughly. "We are going to talk to Sato today and we'll see where it goes from there."

Roland just shook his head a bit. "And the plot ever thickens…" he mumbled to himself.

Korra and Roland met with Tenzin and Beifong to approach Sato in his mansion. "Remember, Korra, let's be diplomatic about this." Tenzin reminded his pupil. "Even though you over heard him, there is still no evidence." Korra nodded to Tenzin as Beifong knocked on the front door. The butler opened it and the party of four strode in. Roland understood quite well that he was there for no other reason than to be the 'muscle' in the group. He wasn't a bender and held no position of power in the city, but if it came to it, everyone knew he could fight.

As they entered, Mako and Asami met them half way down the stairs. Mako grabbed Korra's arm almost too roughly for Roland's liking. "What's going on? Why are they asking Hiroshi more questions?" Tenzin and Beifong strode past the teenagers and continued towards Sato's study.

"I overheard him on the phone yesterday." Korra dipped her head slightly out of shame. "Asami, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your father might be involved with the Equalists." Korra tried to make this sound as professional as possible, but seemed to be failing miserably.

"What?" Asami was taken aback by the accusation. She turned and started up the stairs after the two leaders. "I don't believe this." She mumbled loud enough to be heard by Korra.

Mako looked shocked at Korra's statement. "You spied on Hiroshi!" Korra took a step back and freed her arm from his grip. "What's your problem?" With that, Mako turned and followed Asami.

Beifong stood calmly in front of Sato's desk. "Mr. Sato, we just have a few follow-up questions for you." She said crisply.

"My father is innocent!" Asami shouted as she entered the room. "Just because we're not benders doesn't mean we support those awful equalists."

"Equalists!" Sato stood from his seat as Asami took a position next to him. "Is that what this is about? I can assure you I have nothing to do with those radicals." Sato shook his head sadly.

Mako glared at Korra and spoke sharply. "Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about, Korra."

"I'd overheard you on the phone." Korra lost all hope of staying professional as she jabbed her finger in Sato's direction. "You said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, and you're getting ready to strike. Explain that!"

Sato smiled and chuckled slightly. "This is all just a misunderstanding, resulting from the young Avatar's overactive imagination. My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It's providing me an opportunity to _strike_ the market with a new line of Satomobiles. It's just business. Nothing nefarious." Beifong and Tenzin both looked at Korra disappointedly.

"In order to put all suspicions to rest, might we have a look at your factories and warehouses?" Roland asked pleasantly. Asami and Mako both glared at him.

"Roland, why are you even involved?" Asami inquired. "Are you simply here because Korra jerked your chain?"

Roland gave Asami his best _I am fully capable of killing you in more ways than you have lived years on this earth _look, before he replied. "No ma'am, I just want to get this settled."

"If you feel it's necessary, you're welcome to search all of Future Industries." Sato sat down and wrote out a short note and then handed it to Tenzin. The note allowed access to all of Sato's Future Industries warehouses and factories.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Sato." Tenzin bowed. "I promise we will be brief in our search."

It didn't take long to assemble to metal benders and ride out to the factory area. Just as during the Cabbage Corp raid, metal benders checked everywhere, however this time, they found nothing. After hours of searching every square inch, they metal benders gave the all clear and loaded up.

"I can't believe we didn't find anything" Korra stood between Tenzin and Beifong with her back to the setting sun. She had been sure that at least something would be uncovered.

Beifong looked around once more. "It would appear Hiroshi is innocent."

Asami stalked towards them with Mako at her side. "Okay, you did your search. Now you can all leave." She spat.

Mako caught Korra's eye and motioned for her to step aside from the conversation. They took a few steps before he started. "So, I hope you're convinced now." Mako sighed as he noticed Roland walking towards them.

Korra shook her head fiercely. "No, I'm not! I don't care how cooperative Hiroshi's being, I know he's lying."

"Why are you even doing this?" Mako noticed that Roland was only a few yard away now. "Are you that jealous of me and Asami? I know you had a crush on me, but can't you just leave us alone?"

Korra was stunned by his comment. "What?" She was shaking her head and trying to step out of the conversation. "Don't be ridiculous! That has nothing to do with it at all!"

"Oh really? You never once were jealous of Asami? Face it Korra, you wish you were her and your using you status to get back at her." Korra didn't even reply. "If you don't drop this, consider our friendship over."

"I think that will do, Mako." Roland placed himself almost between the two.

Korra had a few unshed tears in her eyes. This was a close friend of hers who was essentially cutting all ties. "I'm sorry you feel this way Mako. Hiroshi is _not_the man you think he is."

Mako simply stalked off towards Asami. He put his arm around her shoulder and walked away. Roland turned to look at Korra. She had her head down and was trying not to burst into tears. Roland placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "This will all resolve. It is just life happening right now."

Korra looked up at him with misty eyes. "Then life sucks right now." She turned and walked towards several parked trucks. As she neared them, a man bumped into her and slipped her a note. By the time she realized what had happened, he had disappeared into the crowd of workers who were leaving for the night. She looked down and it read it twice. "I think you guys should hear this" Korra motioned for Tenzin and Beifong to come near. "If you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the Silk Road Bridge at midnight." Korra looked at the two leaders, silently asking for directions.

"Midnight is only a few hours from now, we'd better hurry." Tenzin led the way back to the airship. The flight across the city took slightly longer than expected due to a few cross winds, but the four of them along with a few metal bending escorts were on the ground shortly before midnight.

The group calmly walked towards the Northern end of the bridge. Roland had his head on a swivel, this would be a excellent place for a trap.

"Psst. Over here." A man off to the side attracted their attention and walked out from behind a pylon. "Listen, I joined the Equalists because I believed in what Amon said. I thought he could make life better for us non-benders. But I didn't sign up for this…. this war."

"What do you have on Hiroshi Sato?" Beifong asked curiously.

"He manufactured those gloves for the Equalists." The man whispered.

"I knew it!" Korra pumped her fist into the air in triumph.

"And there are rumors he's working on something even bigger. Some new kind of weapon." The worker looked about nervously before continuing. "Supposedly, it is to make bending useless."

"I don't understand…" Tenzin rubbed his shaved head out of confusion. "We searched all of Sato's, Future Industries and found nothing."

The worker looked as if he had the answer to their mystery. "That's because he has a secret factory."

"Where?" Korra inquired.

"I'm not sure I want to say…" The man held his hand out asking for money.

Roland stepped forward with his pistol drawn. "You seem very privy to all of this information. I think this is a trap, so give me a reason to not put a bullet through your gut and leave you for the dogs."

"Wwwaait…" The man stuttered as he tried to step away. "It is right under his mansion. That's all I know, I swear!" The man's eyes darted from Roland's pistol to his eyes, then to Korra's and finally rested on Beifong's. Roland holstered his pistol and looked at the others.

"Let's go then." Beifong led them back to the airship as the metal benders nearby also fell back on her.

"Raiding the Sato Mansion is a risky move with Tarrlok breathing down your neck, Lin. If we're wrong..." Tenzin was cut off mid sentence by the Chief.

"I know. I can kiss my job goodbye. But protecting Republic City is all I care about. We can't let Amon get his hands on this new weapon." Tenzin nodded and chose to leave it at that. The party boarded the hovering airship and made best speed towards the Sato mansion.

They landed as quietly as possible and surrounded the mansion. It was late in the evening, so very few lights were on.

Roland pressed his back against a wall next to the main entrance. He took a moment to notice how nice the evening was, part of a moon, shining stars in the sky, and the glow of the city in front of him. Add in the attractive girl standing in front of him that just so happen to also have kissed him, and it was a nice night for a raid.

The metal benders led the charge, breaching the house and quickly securing Bolin, Mako, and Asami. "What are you doing here again?" Asami pulled away from one of the guards and ran up to Beifong. She shot a look at Korra once more before continuing.

"We have a reason to believe that there's a factory hidden below the mansion." Beifong stated in her best business tone.

"I think I would've noticed if there was a factory underneath my house. The lies you people come up with just to persecute my father." She shook her head in disgust.

"Where is your father at the moment?" Tenzin asked, looking at the metal benders for an answer.

"In his workshop, behind the house." Asami said innocently.

Roland stepped forward with his pistol drawn. "Show us." His tone revealed that he did not want to be led on turtle duck chase.

"Fine, follow me." Asami led the way out to the workshop. The metal benders quickly set up a perimeter as Asami led the group inside. "Dad? Hello?" Asami looked around the room.

Beifong looked to one of her men. "Chief, the estate's been secured. No one has entered or left the workshop since we arrived."

Beifong looked about the room with her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps we just couldn't see him leaving." She kicked her foot high into the air and smashed it down into the floor. What no one could see is how Lin Beifong felt the vibrations reverberate through her foot. Using this method, she was able to quickly notice everything thing hidden about the room. She could feel the dead rat behind the work bench, the random odd chunks of metal and plastic in the corner under a stone cover, and the hollowness of a tunnel directly beneath them. "There's a tunnel beneath the workshop running deep into the mountainside." She said looking at Tenzin.

"What? There's no tunnel." Asami stated defiantly. Beifong kicked her foot into the floor followed by a quick hand movement. A massive ten foot wide metal plate flew up, exposing some steps below.

"Do you think your dad knows about this tunnel?" Bolin whispered to Asami.

"I don't understand. There must be an explanation." Asami was much more quiet and confused now.

"Oh, and is there also an explanation for this?" Beifong kicked again, and in the corner, a stone tablet slid away revealing some blacken, gray and red armor plates.

Roland walked forward and picked one up. "This is my shoulder piece." He held it up to his right shoulder. The plate was neatly cut through from where the Covenant plasma sword had sliced it open. Asami looked shocked at this discovery. "I don't believe it…" Roland held up his helmet and his M7S suppressed submachine gun. "Most of my kit is in here." He grabbed a sack off a shelf and proceeded to begin to load all of his armor into the sack. Most of the parts to his armor, his invisibility generator, ammo for his M7S, and the best part was, most of it seemed to be intact.

"Asami, maybe you don't know everything about your father. I'm sorry."Korra turned towards the tunnel and started downward.

"Officers, into the tunnel." Beifong waved her men forward. "Be cautious. Roland, secure your armor on the airship and follow us in." Roland nodded and jogged off towards the airship with his armor slung over his shoulder. Mako, Bolin, and Asami started to follow the officers down. "Uh-uh, you three stay up here." Beifong looked at one of her men. "Officer Song, keep an eye on them."

Song saluted as she descended into the darkness. Roland was nearly at the airship at this point. He signaled for them to lower the cables and the rode them up. He quickly stashed his gear in a corner, and while he wanted to go through it all and see what was working still, he instead turned and slid down the cable and headed back into the workshop. The entire trip couldn't have taken him more than five minutes. As he entered the shop, he noticed Mako, Bolin, and Asami standing there looking incredibly useless with the officer watching them.

"We need to get down there and see what is going on!" Mako shouted.

"No, absolutely not. We are going to wait right here until Chief Beifong gets back."

Mako glanced at Bolin. "Alright, we'll stay put. But could we wait outside or something? It's so dusty in this workshop."

"No! We wait right here." The metalbender said definitively.

"Okay, don't blame me if I start to sn-neez-if I don't sn-sn-sneez"

"What's your problem?" The officer closed the distance between them.

"I'm about to- AACHOO!" As Mako sneezed, he shot fire out of his nose causing the officer to jump backwards. As he did, Bolin earth bent a bump in the floor, causing the man to fall over. Bolin then proceeded to jump on top of him and pin him down as Mako tied him up. "Sorry pal, we know you were just doing your job." Mako smiled at the guard, and then he noticed Roland.

"Yeah, just stay put until the Chief comes back." Bolin was down in the man's face. "That sounds very familiar doesn't it, why? Because you said it."

"Are you going to stop us to, Roland?" Mako asked the Spartan. He knew that he and Bolin wouldn't be much of a match for him.

Roland grinned slightly. "No, let's go help." He said as he led the way down.

They moved along until they discovered a huge metal door. After determining that it was unopenable, they worked on finding a way around. After a few minutes, Bolin was able to earth bend a tunnel into the room on the other side of the wall. He stuck his head up slowly to see what was happening. "Oh no." He breathed before dropping down. "It was a trap, they are all unconscious."

Roland poked his head up to see for himself. Sure enough, the unconscious bodies of Korra, Tenzin, Chief Beifong, and several metal benders were scattered around the room. Sato stood over Korra with a look of glee on his face. "Well, I'd say that was a near flawless test run. Load everyone into the transports and deliver them to Amon. We'd better thank the Spartans for their help in this." Roland looked the room over once more and saw the massive armor suits that were scattered about. They had a few resemblances to him and Jonah's SPI armor, but were much heavier and better armed. It seemed that using the suits, Sato and several equalists had easily over powered the Avatar and the others.

Roland dropped back into the tunnel and looked at the two brothers and the beautiful daughter of a mad man. "Alright, here's what we're going to do."

The plan was simple, Roland would draw attention while Bolin and Mako grabbed as many of the unconscious people as they could. All of them had insisted that Asami stay in the tunnel where she was safe. It seemed crazy enough to work. Roland jumped out of the tunnel and fired off half of a magazine towards the equalists. Only two of the six bullets missed a target, as Roland sprinted from the hole. Equalists dropped to the ground, dead or dying as the Spartan ran for cover.

"It's him! Try to take him alive!" Sato shouted as he ran towards his own suit.

All attention was diverted towards Roland, so Bolin and Mako grabbed Tenzin and a metal bender and managed to get them into the tunnel. At the same time, Roland was dodging attacks from two of the powerful suits. They were able to shoot an electrified claw out towards an opponent, and without his enhanced reflexes, Roland wouldn't have been the slightest match for them.

He dodged a few attacks and fired a double tap into the viewing screen of one of the armored suits. The bullets easily punched through the glass and killed the Equalist pilot, causing the suit to slump over. Blood and brain matter coated the inside of the helmet and started to ooze outwards, adding to the fears these people already had of the Spartan. This time, Bolin and Mako grabbed Chief Beifong and another metal bender and got them inside, however as they came up, Sato stood over the hole with his armored suit. "Not so fast, boys." Sato grinned wickedly inside of his suit as electricity coursed through the claw.

"Hello, Mr. Sato. Wow! What a really swell, scary factory you have here under your giant mansion." Bolin prepared to jump back into the hole.

"Sponsoring our team, supporting the Avatar." Mako shook his head in disgust. "It was all just a big cover."

"Yes, and the most difficult part was watching my daughter traipse around with a fire bending street rat like you!" Sato prepared to fire when Roland slammed into the side of his suit, knocking it off balance.

"GO!" Roland smashed his unarmored hand into the side of the suit. It hurt like heck, but it crumpled the unbendable metal. Roland drew his pistol, emptied the rest of the magazine into the joints, and then threw the pistol to Mako. "Get out of here. I'll get Korra and get out. Bring help back soon!"

Mako caught the pistol out of the air. "But they'll kill you." Bolin had already jumped into the hole.

Roland grinned with a mix of sadness and joy. "Spartans never die." And with that, he ripped the arm off of the machine, sending oils splurging out and leaving Sato's real arm exposed. Mako dropped into the hole and it vanished when Bolin sealed it behind him.

Roland rushed towards another of the machines and again smashed his fists into the metal. He noticed his knuckles starting to bleed, but didn't focus on anything other than killing. The driver shouted in horror as Roland ripped away the windscreen and shoved his fingers into the woman's eyes sockets. She batted her hands at him, but he simply smashed his fist into her face.

He dropped off the machine and ran towards Korra. Roughly grabbing her, he threw her over his arm. Roland looked at the five remaining metal benders who lay unconscious on the floor… there was nothing he could do for them. The equalists were regrouping, and he only had seconds to act, but he hadn't noticed Sato targeting him with the claw. It shot out, and with Korra's weight on his arm, Roland wasn't able to dodge. Everything went white as the electricity coursed through him, followed quickly by black.

Roland awoke, chained to a wooden board. Just by the weight of the chains, he could already feel that he could break them if needed, but he chose to look the room over first.

Korra was chained up across from him and a small wooden table with tools of torture was sitting menacingly between them. She was obviously unconscious, but in pain from the electrocutions. Before Roland could notice much else, Sato walked in along with a very large, very sinister looking man.

"Ah, I see the heroic Spartan has awoken." Sato took a seat in a chair by the door.

Roland cocked his head to the side. "Well, neither of us have any information that you need, so I am guessing you just want to be a monster."

Sato smiled wickedly and leaned back in his chair. "Precisely. I want the Avatar to feel the same pain I did when I lost my wife. What did the great Avatar Aang do about it? Nothing. So now, the next Avatar can feel what I wanted to do to him." Sato nodded to his man who started to wake Korra. He used a smelling salts, because they both worried that if water was used, she could kill them.

"So what about me?" Roland inquired.

"Unfortunately my courageous friend, you are an object of the Avatar's affection, so you must die first." Sato grinned wickedly.

Roland sighed. "Figures, it won't be quick either, will it?"

"No, it will not, and she will suffer through watching it all." Sato held up his hand and started to count off his fingers. "We'll start with something like you eyes or nose, just to cause you pain. We'll continue on your face until it is so mangled, it will rest with the Avatar all her life. After that, we'll do something to your hands and feet, and from there, we will probably kill you. Although I won't just have you killed outright, no I'll have you gutted alive."

"Roland?" Korra coughed quietly. "Where are we?" The man jerked her head up by hey pony tail, to which she responded by spitting in his face. He ripped her shirt off in anger, leaving her only in her chest bindings.

"No, remember, the Spartan first." Sato reminded his heavy hitter.

The man shoved a metal rod into a fire and let it heat. "Just a sec, boss." The man grabbed the hot metal rod, and grabbed Korra by the hair again. "Spit at me again." He commanded. Korra refused to, so he took the rod and pressed it almost into her left armpit, then let it rest against her breast. It took a moment for it to burn through the bindings, but as soon as her screams started, Roland considered breaking free. As the sickly sent of burning flesh mixed with burning cloth and cooling metal entered his nostrils, Roland griped his chains and was about to break out, but as soon as he applied the slightest pressure, the man stepped away from Korra. Her skin was weeping with sweat around the burn. The rod hadn't been hot enough to simply cauterize it; instead, it left a long third degree burn stretching from just in front of her armpit across her breast.

"Great, so you can torture an unprotected, shackled young woman." Roland thought of how he was going to kill the large man. "That's a great man you have there, Sato."

The man covered the distance between them in two steps and smashed his fist into Roland's gut. He played it off as if it had actually hurt him; however, his metal bones probably hurt the man's hand far worse. "Okay…" Roland pretended to wheeze. "At least let me ask something before I am to broken up to talk. What did Amon do to Jonah to make him work with you, why did you have my armor, and who is Amon?"

Sato laughed loudly. "Amon has taken control of your friends mind physiologically. He believes Korra has you brain washed as he slave." Sato was still smiling broadly as he continued. "We found your armor shortly after we found a half dead Jonah.. I never really had time or the technology to work on it, and my ideological friend, even I do not know who Amon is." Roland knew the fat man was telling the truth, and so, he was done being a prisoner. With a flick of his wrists and ankles, he was free. Sato's look of shock was the last thing Roland saw as he managed to escape out the door, but the big man tried to fight.

Roland simply grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. He chained him quickly and broke Korra free as well. With her slung over one arm, he grabbed a shovel full of coals and dumped them on top of the chained man's chest. He screamed in agony as the smell of burning flesh filled the room. The coals made a hissing noise as they burnt into his skin. "Sucks, don't it?" Roland asked before he crushed the man's neck with his foot. He hit it hard enough, that the broken bones ruptured the skin and sent the bright red blood all over Roland's boots. Roland wiped most of the blood off on the man's shirt as the smell of urine and feces filled his nostrils. Apparently the man's bowels and bladder had already relieved themselves.

He kicked the door down and followed the hallway out. No one was around, and the seemed to be inside of the city. He looked out a window and could see Avatar Island in the bay. Korra seemed to be recovering from the pain and electrocution and she saw it to. "If you can get us to a boat, we can make it." She whimpered as she clung to Roland's chest. She had never been tortured before and she felt completely violated even though the man had hardly done anything.

Roland simply busted the window out and held Korra bridal style. They were only on the second floor, and Roland hit the ground without breaking stride. They made it to the shoreline, but instead of heading to the island, Roland noticed a Police check point. They both ran towards it.

"By the Spirits, it's the Avatar, she's alive!" A policeman shouted.

They were quickly escorted to the police headquarters where they were met by Beifong and Tenzin. Korra was taken away to be tended to by the medics and Roland sat there alone after having debriefed Tenzin. They had gone out to find the building and raid it, but Roland was sure no one would be there. After nearly an hour, Mako walked through the doorway. "Roland, are you alright?" He asked, taking a seat by him. "Is Korra okay?"

"Yes, she has a nasty burn on her breast, but I'm sure the medics can handle it." Mako handed Roland back his M6C pistol. "Thanks for holding onto it. I didn't want it falling into the wrong hands. I've only got ninety bullets left for this thing."

Mako nodded and the two sat there silently for a moment. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier about you and Korra. You two are great together."

Roland nodded to his friend. "Korra mentioned earlier that she invited you and Bolin to stay at the temple. I'm sure the invitation still stands. Bring Asami to, I'm sure it could get interesting, but what the heck."

"Thank you." Mako stood and bowed slightly Roland sighed and stood to his feet and held out his hand. "What is that?" Mako asked.

"It's a handshake. You grab my hand and we shake. It is better than all this silly bowing." Mako took his hand and shook firmly. "Alright, you can go ahead and start getting ready head to the island now, I doubt Korra will be much longer so we should be there to meet you."

Mako nodded and went to get Asami and Bolin. Only a few minutes later, Korra was led out. She was still tired and in some pain, but as soon as she saw Roland, she latched onto his arm. "Let's go home." She groaned. Roland led the way, and soon they were each in their own bed, sleeping soundly, and enjoying each other's presence."

**Whatdya think? Got to have a bit of a fight scene, and I wanted to use the idea of Spartan armor being copied by the tech of the day to create some type of fighting suits. I think I forgot to mention, they are called Mecha Tanks.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10, this is not my property. **

**Chapter Ten **

The next morning, Tenzin and Korra had sent off several of the Air Temple Acolytes to assist Mako, Bolin, and Asami in the move to the island. Shortly before lunch time, Ikki started shouting loudly that she saw a sail heading towards the island. She had been watching from the cliffs and Pema nearly fainted as Ikki sprinted headlong down the rocky surface.

"Honey, what have I told you about the cliffs?" Pema shouted. Roland was standing next to Pema and just smiled as he watched the girl racing towards them.

"Neverrundownthem!" Ikki giggled as she raced passed her mother and Roland.

Roland and Pema followed Ikki towards the docks. They arrived just after Korra and the other children did and just as the Air Temple craft pulled alongside the pier.

Ikki was nearly jumping up and down when she saw the two brothers and Asami. "You're finally here! Welcome to Air Temple Island." She spread her hand out to reveal the island above her. "Your new home."

"Yes, welcome to my domain." Meelo said calmly. "I shall direct you to where you will remain."

Bolin was the first out of the craft and he stood looking down at Meelo. "Well, aren't you sweet, little monk child." He said as he patted Meelo on the head. Pabu had been wrapped around Bolins shoulder, but chose this time to jump off and run between Meelo's legs.

"What is that fuzzy creature?" Meelo asked as he started towards it, a huge smile forming on his lips.

"That is a Fire Ferret. An arboreal mammal common to the bamboo forest of the central Earth Kingdom." Jinorra stated matter of a factly.

Before he knew what had happened, Pabu had been scooped up by Ikki who declared, "He's cute!" as she started to tug and his ears and twirl him around.

By this point, Mako and Asami had also disembarked the ship. Mako approached Pema and Korra to thank them. "Thank you again for allowing us to live her, and thanks for sending the Air Acolytes to help us with the move."

Asami quickly agreed with Mako. "Yes, they've been amazing. Such tireless workers." She praised the men.

Korra looked as the Acolytes attempted to carry a stack of suitcases piled six high. "Oh, I thought you were only bringing a" The Acolytes stumbled slightly but managed to catch themselves. "_few_ things."

Mako rolled his eyes. "Trust me, it could have been much worse." Asami playfully swatted him on the shoulder.

"No problem, everyone here wants you guys to feel welcome. I would have come and helped myself, but I am still not feeling one hundred percent." Mako nodded his understanding. Korra still had a few faded bruises and her burn, while it had been healed, still left a painful scar.

"You've done quite enough so far." Roland said as he slid his arm through hers. "Come on, I'm sure it won't take long to get all of you settled."

Korra was still moving slightly slower than usual, but they quickly made their way up the stairs to the level of the temple. The children were already up there waiting. Meelo stood there looking up at Asami. "You're pretty, can I have some of your hair?" He asked while holding his hand out.

"Looks like I have some competition." Mako whispered loudly.

"And now for the grand tour." Ikki declared loudly. "The flying bison sleep in those caves down there." She was speaking a mile a minute and her hands were pointing everywhere out. "And that's the temple grandpa Aang built. And that's the greenhouse where we grow the vegetables we eat." She inhaled loudly upon finishing.

Bolin stood there looking down at her. "I have a couple of questions." He said. Is that where you train airbending? Do we have to wear Air Acolyte clothes? Do we get our own sky bison? Is this an all vegetarian island? And final question, how many trees are on this island?" Bolin had mimicked Ikki's quick speech.

"Yes. No. No. Sort of. Ten thousand five hundred and fifty two." Everyone paused and looked at her for a moment.

Finally Mako spoke up. "So, where are we going to be staying?"

"You're a boy." Meelo stated simply. "You have to stay on the boy's side." He glanced at Roland. "Unless you are Master Roland, then you sleep in Korra's room." Korra redden as she glared at Meelo. "Follow me!" He shouted as he took off running towards the male dormitory.

Mako, Bolin, and Asami looked at Roland and Korra for a moment. "What?" Roland asked.

"Nothing… hmm… I'm a boy! Wait up!" Bolin ran after Meelo.

"So, you two have been sleeping together?" Mako asked cautiously.

"No!" Korra was very intent on shooting down any rumors. "We sleep in the same room, on separate beds."

"Gotcha, I'm gonna follow Bolin and Meelo now." Mako said as he quickly kissed Asami on the cheek and followed his brother.

"Ikki and I will take you to your room this way." Jinora said calmly to Asami.

"Alright, see you later Korra." Asami waved as the two girls led her to her room.

Roland put his arm around Korra once the others were out of sight and kissed her. "I told you there would be an issue with us sleeping together." Roland said after breaking the short kiss.

"Hmmph, I still don't care." Korra said defiantly.

"Very well, either way though, you need to rest some more." Roland said as he led her back to their room.

When they entered the room, Tenzin was sitting on the windowsill waiting for them. "Good morning Korra." Tenzin said, standing as they entered. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks to the healers and to Roland." Korra leaned her head against Roland's should as she spoke of him.

"Beifong's replacement, Saikhan, is going to be inducted as the new Chief of Police later. I think we should both be there." Tenzin said, cutting to the chase.

"What about Roland?" Korra asked.

Roland shrugged. "I can come if you want me to, that's Tenzin's call."

"By all means, he can join you us well. I'll be leaving around two, I'll send an acolyte to remind you shortly before."

"Thanks Tenzin." Korra said, moving aside so he could leave.

"And now, you rest." Roland said as he grabbed her hand and gently, yet forcibly laid her onto her bed.

Korra laid there, but then pulled her feet up some, implying that she wanted Roland to sit down. "I don't want to sleep yet." She said.

"Fine, we'll sit then." Roland smiled a bit as he spoke.

"Funny." Korra paused and weighed her words. "Did you ever get captured or tortured as a Spartan?" she asked.

Roland thought for a moment. "Honestly, so much of my past is finally starting to fade away. Being here, in this world, with you. I don't really have to think of war or death, but yes, I was trained to resist torture."

"What do you do?" Korra inquired.

"I was taught to just zone out and retreat into your mind. Accept that they are going to hurt your body and you can't stop it. Just think of somewhere you'd rather be and dwell on that." Korra thought about what he had said. "But it doesn't matter, because as long as I am here, nothing like that will ever happen again." He placed his hand on her knee as he spoke.

Korra just smiled at him, before rolling over to sleep. "Thanks, that's all I was wondering."

Roland nodded and sat there, quietly keeping watch as she slept.

"It was an honor serving under Chief Beifong for so many years" Chief Saikhan spoke the crowd of reports before him. "and I wish her a speedy recovery. It is with great humility that I take her place as the new Chief of Police. Republic City is facing a threat like none the world has ever seen but there is one man who's been effective against Amon's revolution. Councilman Tarrlok." A few reporters turned to photograph the councilman. "That is why for all matters involving the Equalists, I will report directly to him. The police department will lend any and all available resources to the councilman and his task force until we quell this insurgency." He closed by slamming his fist down loudly on the podium as the crowd burst into applause.

Korra looked disgusted as she stood behind Saikhan with the council. Roland had left shortly after they arrived, unknown to her; it was to set up in a likely over watch position. Korra leaned over to Tenzin and whispered angrily. "What is that weasel snake Tarrlok up to now?"

Tenzin looked at Tarrlok as he and the other council members stood to leave. He jerked his head for Korra to follow him and the two walked towards Tarrlok. "Tarrlok, I don't know what you did to get Chief Saikhan in your pocket but I highly doubt it was legal."

"Oh, Tenzin. Did you ever consider Saikhan simply recognizes my talents and wants what is best for this city?" He turned to face Korra. "Well, Avatar Korra. Long time, no see. Now that your little pro-bending distractions are over, I look forward to your return to my task force."

"Ha!" Korra folded her arm in defiance. "Forget it! There's no way I'm rejoining your vanity project."

"That is _unfortunate_ to hear but I'm sure you'll come to your senses as you have in the past." Tarrlok smiled cruelly. "Where is your little super soldier friend? I thought you two were attached at the hip."

"No, we're not. He is probably watching you right now, and I bet he could even kill you if he chooses to." Korra scanned the building above before looking back at Tarrlok. "Don't hold your breath on me coming back either. You know, Tenzin's been right about you all along. You played me, you played Beifong and now you're playing the new Chief too." She took a step and stood directly in his face. "Well, I got news for you." Korra whispered as she jabbed her finger at him. "You need me, but I don't need you. I'm the Avatar."

"You're not, in fact, the Avatar. You are merely a half-baked Avatar in training," Tarrlok jeered. "which reminds me, how is your airbending going? Made any significant progress with that?" Tarrlok asked very snidely. Korra hung her head slightly in shame. "I didn't think so. If you will not be part of my task force, then you had best stay out of my way." Tarrlok turned to leave and nearly ran into Roland.

"Tarrlok." Roland greeted him coldly.

Tarrlok looked him over. Roland had a small backpack on his back, along with his pistol strapped to his hip. "Having fun with your toys?" Tarrlok asked.

Roland chose to ignore Tarrlok and simply slipped past him. "Great ceremony. Loved the enthusiasm." He looked at Tenzin and Korra. "Can we go home now?"

Tenzin smiled and led the way back to Oogi, his flying sky bison. As they flew towards the island, Korra looked terribly sad and finally she broke out almost into tears. "I don't understand what's wrong with me. I've memorized nearly all of the practice forms, but I still can't produce a single measly puff of air!" Korra sent a blast of fire over the side of the saddle. "I'm a failure."

Roland glanced at Tenzin and decided to stay out of this one. "No you're not. You just need to work through this airbending block." Tenzin said calmly without turning around.

"Amazing advice." Korra sighed sarcastically "I'll get right on that."

"I wasn't finished yet." Tenzin turned to look Korra in the eyes. "You see, Aang not only had his bending teachers, but also his past lives to call upon for guidance. Have you ever made contact with your past lives?"

At this point, Roland decided this was definitely not for him, and he started to fiddle with the small backpack he had been wearing. "No, of course I haven't." Korra broke Tenzin's gaze and settled her chin on the side of Oogi's saddle. "Didn't you get the memo from the White Lotus? I'm a spiritual failure, too."

Tenzin thought for a moment. "You may have made a connection without realizing it. Perhaps something you mistook as a dream?" Korra's head shot up and she looked at Tenzin, almost excitedly.

"Maybe. I had a few weird hallucinations, but I hardly even remember them."

"And did you see any previous Avatars in these visions?"

"I saw Aang." Korra was growing excited now. "It seemed like he was in trouble. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. But I urge you to meditate on these visions. I believe Aang's spirit must be trying to tell you something."

Korra nodded her agreement when a small flash went off next to them. Roland was completely gone. "Roland!" Korra darted to where he had been sitting and looked over the edge. "ROLAND!" She shouted. Tenzin had already started to turn Oogi back the way they had come. "Tenzin, what happen?" Korra asked. She was prepared to fight, thinking it could be an equalist trick, but her eyes were also watering with unshed tears.

"I'm not sure… I don't think…" Tenzin stopped himself.

"You don't think what?" Korra cried.

Tenzin looked about for a moment. "If the Spirits bought him here, they just as easily could have removed him."

Korra just sat there on her knees aghast. "That can't happen." She almost whimpered. "He is the only person I am myself with!"

Tenzin scanned the water below them. "I am sorry Korra, I think he's gone."

Korra jumped to her feet and sent a blast of fire towards the sky. "WHY!" She screamed as she launched a second, and then a third blast. Finally she collapsed down and broke into tears.

"Korra. You're sitting on me." Roland said calmly. She jumped up and nearly fell out of Oogi's saddle, but couldn't see Roland at all. After a moment, something flickered and then he appeared almost out of thin air. "Korra I…" She tackled him and kissed him on the lips before he could go any farther. As they kissed, Roland felt her tears falling freely down her cheeks and resting on his.

After several moments, she broke the kiss, sat back and looked at him. "What did you do?"

Roland smiled sheepishly. "I fixed my active camouflage." He held up the small backpack again.

"What?" Korra was terribly confused and her emotions were everywhere. To answer her, Roland pressed a button on the side of the backpack, and with a flicker, he turned completely invisible. Korra could barely make out a slight glimmer that the camouflage produced, but other than that he was completely out of view.

After a few moments, Roland killed the power and returned to normal view. "I probably should have told you." Korra leaned back over as if to kiss him, but instead punched him in the stomach, hard.

"Don't ever do that, again." She hissed.

"But look how much you would have missed me!" Roland smiled as he rubbed his stomach from where she had hit him.

Tenzin simply shook his head as he had Oogi prepare to land.

Later that evening, Korra was doing as Tenzin had asked. Sitting on the cliffs looking down at the Avatar Aang memorial statue, she had been meditating, but now had broken into tears from the weight of responsibility she had to carry.

"Korra? You out here?" Mako called through the semi dense brush.

"Korra!" Bolin yelled, before tripping over a root and crying out in pain.

A small smile tugged a Korra's lips before she called them over. "I'm over here guys!"

As her four friends approached, Korra wiped away the tears that were on her cheeks. "There you are." Mako said with a tone of worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Korra said, trying to act normal.

"Come on, what's wrong? You can tell us." Asami said kindly.

Korra looked at Roland. "You've already head this." She said.

"Don't mean I can't hear it again." Roland said kindly. "Tell us all what's wrong."

"How am I supposed to save this city when I can't even learn airbending?" She put her head on her legs and looked off across the bay. "I'm the worst Avatar ever! I just feel... alone."

"No, that's nonsense! You're amazing!" Asami tried to encourage her.

"Yeah and remember. Aang hadn't mastered all the elements when he was battling the Fire Nation. He was just a little kid." Mako helped her to her feet.

"Plus!" Bolin threw his arm around Roland. "Aang didn't have a super soldier boyfriend who is training you to kill people without bending!"

Roland smiled as Bolin hung on his shoulder. "And, from what I understand, he wasn't alone. Didn't he have like 'Team Avatar' or something?"

"Yeah!" Bolin said. "He had his friends to help him. Look, the arena might be shut down but we're still a team. The New Team Avatar!"

"We got your back Korra and we can save this city." Mako placed his hand out into the center of the circle and Asami and Bolin placed theirs on top.

Korra hesitated for a moment before Roland took her hand in his and placed them both on the top of the stack. As he did so, he looked at her and said one simple word. "Together."

"Alright," Korra smiled. "You've convinced me. Let's do it!"

As the last words escaped her mouth, Meelo fell from a tree above that he had been hiding in and farted onto their hands as he shouted "Yeah, let's do it!" He stood there looking at them as a second small fart escaped. "What are we doing?" The five of them burst into a long fit of laughter before they turned and headed towards the gate.

"Get ready, Republic City." Bolin said epically as Korra led Naga out into the courtyard. "You are about to be patrolled by Team Avatar."

Asami walked out carrying one of the Equalist electric gloves, and shortly after her, Roland came out wearing a makeshift vest of sorts. He his small backpack containing his cloaking generator as well as parts of his old arm fashioned into a method of carrying his pistol on his chest along with three quickly accessible magazines.

Roland looked at Naga and then at Korra. "Korra, somehow I doubt all of us are going to fit." Korra thought for a moment before agreeing.

"Any other ideas?" She asked.

"Hmm. I think I have the answer." Asami said as she led the way. They crossed over to the mainland by Avatar powered boat and Asami directed them to an out of the way garage. She entered from a back way and opened the door. As soon as it had cleared the four teenagers, headlights clicked on and a motor revved. Asami pulled the car out a slid it to a stop directly in front of them. "You think this will do?" She asked innocently.

Mako slid into the front seat as Bolin, Korra, and Roland crammed into the back. "I like the New Team Avatar's style." Mako stated as Asami shifted into gear and burned out as they started to patrol the city.

As they drove, a radio in the center console started to crackle. Police chatter was exchanged before it returned to silence. "My dad had police scanners installed in all of his cars." Asami yelled over the roar of the engine. "I guess now I know why."

They drove for nearly a block in silence before the radio cackled again. "Calling all units, Level Four Alert. Jailbreak at headquarters. Officers down, electrocuted. Chi blockers and Equalist convicts are still at large armed and dangerous." Team Avatar all looked at the radio intently as Asami slowed to a halt. "Last seen heading east. I repeat, Level Four Alert. Equalist jailbreak!"

At the intersection they had stopped at, a van and several motorcycles sped past. "Chi blockers!" Bolin shouted as Asami shoved the car into gear.

"That's them!" Mako shouted as he leaned over the side of the car.

"Let's get them!" Korra growled as they started to close the distance. Asami handled the car beautifully as she weaved in and out of traffic, but still remaining on the tail of the fleeing Equalists. Suddenly, a large truck pulled out in front of them.

"Korra, Bolin, I need a ramp!" Asami shouted as she prepared to swerve. However, Bolin and Korra earthebent a ramp just in time that they managed to clear the truck and land safely on the other side.

Mako sent a blast of lightning at one of the motorcycle riding chiblockers, destroying his vehicle and nearly killing the man. At the same moment, Roland drew his M6C and fired two shots into one of the fleeing cyclists. Both rounds struck the man in the back, causing him to lose control and likely die before help could arrive. As Bolin started to fire earth blocks at the van, the remaining equalist motorcycles started to employ a smoke screen. Unable to see, Asami slides a pair of driving goggles over her eyes, however, even this doesn't help.

"Here, try this." Roland said as he slid he helmet over Asami's head. He had activated the thermal vision and she was easily able to see the equalists turn right, attempting to evade their pursuers.

"Help me out! We gotta make this turn!" Asami shouted as Bolin and Korra earthbent a ramp that allowed them to take the turn at incredible speed. "They don't know we made the turn. Okay, get ready." Asami pushed the peddle to the metal and slammed into the rear of the fleeing van. Mako sent a blast of fire at the van, but the doors didn't open until after the fire had dispersed. An equalist bola wrapped around Mako's arm and almost allowed him to be pulled from the speeding car, except Roland saw it happen and grabbed Mako around the waist to prevent him from being pulled out. With his right hand, Roland drew a bead on the van and emptied his magazine into the rear, killing the man who was trying to get Mako and causing the van to swerve slightly. Korra saw her chance and fired her own blast of fire into the van, causing it to lose control and crash into a storefront.

Team Avatar jumped out a quickly secured the scene. Reporters arrived before the police and started taking pictures and asking for reports. Tarrlok and his task force arrived on scene and he approached them angrily. "Avatar Korra, what do you think you are doing?"

"Oh, hey Tarrlok. Nice of you to show up finally. Here, we captured the escaped convicts for you." Korra said, gesturing to the bound equalists before them.

"What you did was tear up the city and impede the real authorities in their pursuit of these criminals." Tarrlok gestured to the path of destruction in their wake.

"Hmm, that's funny. I didn't see your little task force or the cops the whole time." She folded her arms and looked away. "If it wasn't for Team Avatar, They would've gotten away for sure." She ceased paying any attention to Tarrlok and started to inspect her fingernails instead.

Tarrlok glared at her. "This is your last warning. Stay out of my _way_!" He shouted before climbing into his car and driving off.

"Not bad for one night, huh team?" Bolin smiled as he threw his arms around his brother and Korra.

Korra smiled at Roland. "Nope, not bad at all."

**There you go, Chapter 10 has been posted. I don't have much to say, so read, review, and ask any questions ya got!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 is up. I made a few last minute edits before posting this, so let me know what you think. Avatar, The Legend of Korra and Halo are not my property. **

**Chapter Eleven **

Not much was done the next morning. Many of Team Avatar had chosen to sleep in, except for Roland. He was outside from day break training his body. It had been months since he had a decent workout, and he could almost hear his instructors screaming at him as he went through several different exercises. _The bad stuff may be fading, but I can't go soft. _Roland thought.

Later that day, Tenzin had brought terrible news. Tarrlok had passed a new law forcing a curfew on all non benders. Team Avatar didn't think much of it at the time, but it would come back to hurt them that evening.

With nothing else to do, Korra and Roland walked together down to the dock. "So, what was your favorite thing as a Spartan?" Korra asked to start a conversation.

"Well, there's a few. Being the best, and knowing it was always great." Roland smiled at how the thought of how the few Marines he had seen looked at him with awe. "I loved finishing a mission and knowing we were through." Roland thought a moment more. "And the camaraderie with Jonah. Nothing could ever compare to that."

"He's like your brother, isn't he?" Korra asked. They had now walked to the end of the dock and were looking out towards the city.

"I guess, kinda like one who knows your every thought before you even think it." Korra shifted, unsure of what to say next. "You never really had friends, did you?" Roland asked her.

Korra chuckled. "Nope, I had my parents, Naga, and my instructors. All the other kids never wanted to be around me."

"Yeah, the only kids I was ever around were training to be killers with me." Roland remembered his small class of Headhunters.

"How did you become a Spartan?" Korra asked. "I mean, I get that you were trained and all, but why you? What did your parents think?"

Roland shook his head. No one but Jonah and the creeps at ONI knew his back story, but Korra, he knew he could trust. "Well, my parents didn't exactly care."

"What do you mean, did they know you were gone?" Korra squeezed his hand gently.

"Well, they were gone first. I never could have known my father… He was a Marine stationed Harvest, that's a planet on the outer rim. He got drunk one night at a club and met my mother. Things happen, and my mother found out months later she was pregnant with me."

"That's terrible." Korra sighed.

Roland snorted. "No, it gets better. When she found out, she tried to have me aborted."

Korra looked at him funnily. "What's that?" She asked. Never before had she heard of such a thing.

"She tried to have me killed before I was born. I guess I was meant to live though, cause it failed and she put me up in an orphanage."

Korra grabbed Roland's other hand and made him face her. "That is horrid!" She whispered. "How can you kill a baby?"

"I got moved to Reach when I was six." Roland continued. "No one wanted me, so the organization moved me to the central hub."

Korra forced him to look into her eyes. "How did you find all this out?" She asked.

"When I was sixteen, I hacked into the mainframe through the internet onsite." Roland said simply. Korra had no idea what the 'internet' was, but she let him continue. "I found my profile and was able to find out what happen."

"So, when did you become a Spartan?" Korra asked again.

"Not long after I found out about my mother, two men approached me. They asked if I want to live a life with purpose." Roland shrugged. "I said yes, and the next night, I was whisked away on a ship. Several days later, we arrived on Onyx. I got to go on a night jump the first evening." Roland said it as if it had been a privilege, although it had been a tool to weed out the weak. "After six months of training, I was interviewed to be a headhunter. I guess I had the right stuff." He let go of one of her hands and gently started to pull her back towards the temple.

"Wow…" Korra said. "I thought my life was tough."

"Technically, I'm twenty." Roland confessed. "But I spent so much time on ice heading to missions; it took two years off me." Korra was silent for the walk up. She always thought it had been a two month program where Roland was trained, not years of his life dedicated to one program. "I do miss it though." Roland added as they neared the temple courtyard.

"Enough to leave?" Korra asked guiltlessly.

"Nope, like I said before, I can live here. Never really had that as a soldier." Roland at Korra and grinned. "Race you to the door." He said, and with that, he took off.

"Not fair!" Korra shouted after him. Both ran full tilt towards the door way, with Korra only a few steps behind. As the neared it, Korra smirked as she earthbent a small rock to trip Roland. However, she forgot he moved faster than a highly trained athlete. Roland noticed the hazard and simply side stepped it. As he reached out to touch the door frame and win, he spun on his heel to poke at Korra.

"That, was definitely not fair." He said, slightly winded.

"Then we're even." Korra smiled at him. Both laughed and went to find the rest of Team Avatar.

Later that night, the team was out patrolling when the radio crackled once more. "All available units, please respond to the fifty six hundred block of Dragon Flats borough. Equalists have taken to the streets, consider them armed and dangerous. Proceed with caution."

The five friends looked at each other and darted for the vehicle. "I call front!" Bolin shouted as he climbed into the front seat.

"Thank Bo…" Mako sighed as he, Korra, and Roland tried to squeeze into the back seat.

As they neared the borough, Korra noticed something strange. "Why is the power out?" She asked as they pulled to a stop to see hundreds on non benders protesting against the metal benders standing around them.

"Wait a second, these people aren't armed or dangerous." Asami said as she got out of the car.

"Sure doesn't look that way." Roland said as he stowed his gear, including his pistol in the rear of the car. He made sure Korra noticed he had done so. Something didn't seem right about this, and he didn't see any threats other than Tarrlok.

"All non-benders, return to your homes immediately." Chief Saikhan shouted through a megaphone.

"Yeah, as soon as you turn our power back on." One man shouted and he was immediately joined with cries of agreement.

"Disperse, or you will all be arrested." The Chief bellowed again.

A mother holding her young child's hand was the next to speak. "You benders can't treat us this way!" she cried.

"Look mommy," The little girl tugged on her mother's dress. "It's the Avatar."

"Please, help us! You're our Avatar, too!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Korra looked around the crowd sadly. "Everyone, please stay calm. I'm gonna put a stop to this." Korra stalked off through the police to find Tarrlok. The rest of Team Avatar followed her. Finally she spotted him talking to another member of his task force. "Tarrlok, you need to turn the power back on and leave these people alone."

"Avatar Korra, you and your playmates have no business here." Tarrlok said sternly.

"We're not going anywhere. You don't have the right to treat these innocent people like criminals." Korra shouted back.

"This is an Equalist rally. There is nothing innocent about it." Tarrlok looked about the crowd.

"They're not Equalists, they're just normal people who want their rights back." Asami yelled.

Tarrlok was furious. "They are the enemy!" He turned to the head metal bending officer. "Round up all these Equalists!"

And with that, the Metal Benders wrapped metal bands around large groups of the crowd. They then slammed their legs to the ground, causing large chunks of earth with dozens of people atop to rise up. "STOP!" Korra shouted as she ran forward. She slammed on of the mounds to the ground, allowing the people to escape.

Tarrlok snarled and waterbent a whip around Asami's arm. "Hey! Let me go!" She cried.

"You're under arrest!" Tarrlok hissed as her forced her inside one of the metal vans.

"You can't do that!" Mako shouted as he pushed through the crowd.

"Actually, I can. She's a non-bender out past curfew and her father is a known Equalist conspirator."

Mako was furious at this point. "Let her go."

Tarrlok looked at him for a moment before ordering the metalbenders. "Arrest him and his brother!"Cables shot out, one wrapped around Mako and pulled him in, but the other, meant for Bolin, was caught by Roland and cast aside. "Arrest that man as well. He also is out past curfew and he just assisted that boy in evading arrest." Four metal benders surrounded Roland, but he chose to go willingly, and not kill these police officers who were only following the orders of their messed up leaders.

Korra had been trying to help people escape, but now she saw her friend being loaded into the vans. She sprinted towards them and pulled two massive boulders from the ground. "Tarrlok!" She shouted with the boulders hovering over her head.

"Unless you want to join your friends in prison, I suggest you put those down and go back to the Air Temple." Tarrlok said sinisterly.

Roland was being placed into a van when he called out to her. "Korra, listen to him. It's not worth it."

"We'll be fine!" Bolin shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll call Tenzin. He can get you out." She yelled back as the door was slammed shut. A police man banged the back twice and the van pulled away for the prison. Korra stood there watching as it drove off. Her face showed the range of emotions running through her. Sadness, fear for her friends, the weight of her responsibility coming back, and most of all hatred for Tarrlok.

"So sad to see your little _Team Avatar_ broken up. You had a good run." Tarrlok said from behind her.

Korra turned to face him. "This isn't over, Tarrlok." She said coldly.

"Oh, I believe it is." He said as he climbed into his own car and drove away.

A few minutes later, Roland was extracted with great care from the rear of the truck. "Sir, I need to remind you to come quietly." One of the officers said calmly.

Roland nodded before replying. "I will. I have no quarrel with any of you. You are just following orders."

A second guard smiled sadly. "Glad you understand." And with that, cast iron hand cuffs were placed over Roland's wrists. He was handed off to a pair of prison guards and the officers started to unload the other "convicts." The guards led him down several twists and turns as well as up a flight of stairs before arriving in a cell block. The put him inside and closed the door before having him reach through the bars so they could unlock his cuffs.

"Nice place." Roland said dryly.

One of the guards shrugged. "I don't think you'll be in here long anyway." And with that they walked back the way they had come.

Roland looked around his small cell. It was about ten foot by eight foot with two beds and a toilet on the far wall. Both beds were simply a wooden plank with a thin blanket on top of it. He sat down on one of the beds, and with nothing to do, and no intent to escape, he fell asleep quickly.

Sometime later, Roland awoke. Something felt… wrong, but he didn't know what. He shrugged the idea off and rolled over. As he did so, his back popped loudly. The plank was terribly uncomfortable and the blanket was not keeping the damp cold off his body. For a slight moment, Roland felt sorry for himself.

_What the heck is wrong with you Spartan! _A voice went off inside of Roland's mind. _You have slept in places far worse than this. _The voice reminded him of his old drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hawkins. The man knew how to give a good butt chewing. "_You've gone soft, haven't you?" _

"No sir…" Roland muttered quietly to himself.

"_I think you have. You haven't had some good PT in weeks, if not months, have you!"_

"That's a negative sir." Roland sat up straight as if Hawkins was screaming at him in person. "I PT'd today."

"_Malarkey._ _It's that girl, ain't it? You went and fell in love, and she is makin you go all wishy-washy on me. Am I right!" _The voice was screaming at him.

"No sir." Roland replied, not quite yelling, but ready to jump to his feet.

"_Danged if I ain't right. You get on your face and you push 'em out until the floor moves, you hear me?" _

"YES SIR!" Roland shouted as he jumped to his feet and started doing pushups.

Three hundred later, the voice was back. _"Climb a mountain." _Roland started the grueling exercise. Next was crunches, then arm rotations, followed by squats.

After nearly five hundred, the voice came back. "_Get on you back. Flutter kicks until your legs fall off" _

Roland rolled over and started doing flutter kicks. At one hundred, he started to feel tired. Grunting and pushing, he kept at it until after what felt like five hundred, the voice came back again. "_Recover, on your feet." _Roland jumped up and stood at attention. "_You'd better not ever start this whole pity party again." _The voice in his mind was soft, but filled with rage. "_Your brother is out there somewhere fighting for the wrong side. Not only that, you have brothers and sisters still finishing the fight back home. Now, I don't care if you never come home, but if you start to complain about your back, or your feet, or even you stupid pinky finger, you better go ahead and kill yourself, cause it will save me the trouble of having to find you and doing it myself." _Roland stood there at attention for another moment or two. "_DO I make myself CLEAR?"_

"AYE SIR!" Roland shouted at the top of his voice. A few mumblings could be heard from other prisoners.

"_Now get back in your rack and be ready to handle whatever happens next"_

Roland smiled and climbed back into his plank bed. He rolled over, and passed out immediately, just like he had every night in training.

"_Come on Roland!" Korra shouted, tugging on his hand as she ran forward. It was a beautiful summer day and she was dragging him through a field of flowers by his right hand. "Quit being such a mope and come on!" She laughed with glee when started to run alongside her. All Roland could think of was how gorgeous she looked with the sun reflecting off her hair and her skin. Her blue shirt flattered her blue eyes so well. She always eyes squinted slightly when she laughed which just made Roland fall for her even more. _

"_Let's stop here." He said as he tugged on her arm. He managed to pull her down on top of him as he fell into the flowers which sent her off laughing again. _

_She laid on top of his chest looking into his eyes as she caught her breath. "I love you, Roland." She said sweetly before kissing him. __Her _

_Before Roland could reply, he heard an all too familiar sound. The fizzling crackle of a plasma grenade as it landed next to them. All he had time to do was roll his body on top of Korra before it went off. _

_As the explosion dissipated, he looked around. The flower filled field now looked like a war torn battlefield with marine and Covenant bodies stretched across it. He felt his armor around his body and heard Jonah yelling over the comms. "Get up Rolle! We got company!" _

_He jumped to his feet and grasped his M7S Submachine gun. As he sprayed down the advancing Covenant, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to Korra. "Left side, Jay!" Roland shouted as he tossed a frag grenade. A trio of grunts was turned to hamburger as it detonated. Their neon blue blood splattered over his helmet, but he continued to fight. After a few moments of fighting, all of the advancing Covenant had been repulsed. _

_As the two Headhunters surveyed the battle ground, Jonah spotted something. "Hey, what's that Elite over there doing?" _

_Roland started towards it, and as they drew nearer, it turned to face him. In its right hand, it held a plasma sword, the weapon which had been used to nearly kill Roland. And in its left, it held Korra she was stiff as a board and didn't seem to be able to bend. Both Spartans snapped their weapons onto the Elite. "What is the matter human?" The Elite said in his deep voice. "Afraid for this pathetic female?" _

"_What's he talking about Roland?" Jonah asked. _

_Roland applied slight pressure to the trigger. "That's my girl…" Roland said calmly.  
_

"_Well then, we can't have a fine girl like that getting herself skewered, now can we?" Jonah and Roland both sprayed the Elite with caseless ammo from his M7S. The Elite dropped to the ground, it's life blood pouring out of its body. He released Korra as he fell, however she remained as stiff as a board. _

"_Korra! Can you hear me!" Roland shook her as he slid his helmet off to look into her eyes. As he shook her, he looked into his helmet visor beside him and saw Tarrlok standing there, smiling wickedly. Before he could do anything, Korra's body convulsed and she started to foam around the mouth as her deep blue eyes rolled back into her head._

_Roland looked back and saw Jonah and the dead Elite were nowhere to be seen. He was back in his clothes, but unable to move his body for some reason. Tarrlok walked around and stood over Korra. "Pity, she was a beautiful girl." With that, he slid Amon's mask into place and lifted his foot into the air over Korra's neck. Roland managed to close his eyes as he heard the unmistakable snap of breaking bones. _

"NO!" Roland screamed as he shot up in his bed. He was on his feet and looking for a target before he knew what was happening. He looked around and could see out the window that it was early dawn. He had no idea why he'd had such as strange dream, but chose not to dwell on it and instead chose to use the toilet. He had no idea what had happen to Korra the night before.

Seven hours before, Korra had tried her hardest to get her friends out of prison, but even with Tenzin's help, no one, not even Chief Saikhan would release them. The master and apprentice had returned to the airbender temple defeated.

Tenzin placed his hand on Korra's shoulder. "Go get some rest Korra, I'll take this up with Tarrlok first thing in the morning."

She nodded and silently went to her room. She sat on the bed in brooding silence for nearly an hour, plenty of time for Tenzin to fall asleep. She finally stood up and opened the window to look out at Republic City. It was lightly snowing outside, and Korra had a plan. She squatted down next to Naga and tapped her softly. "Wake up, Naga. Let's go." She rode Naga to City Hall, where outside Korra disembarked. "Wait for me here, girl." Naga took a step to follow anyway. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

She scaled the building and smashed open a window, allowing snow and ice to blast inside of Tarrlok's office. As she stepped inside, she saw Tarrlok and the page who had brought several messages to her to try to convince her to join the task force signing papers on the desk. "You and I need to talk." Korra said sternly to Tarrlok.

Tarrlok looked at the page. "Are any of the other council members here?"

"I believe everyone has gone home for the night." He said shakily.

"Then you should do the same." Tarrlok sighed.

The page looked at Korra and then back at Tarrlok. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Leave us!" Tarrlok said harshly. The page bowed and hustled out of the room. "You obviously have something on your mind?" Tarrlok said to Korra. "Spit it out."

"Don't you see?" Korra said with a passion. "You're doing exactly what Amon says is wrong with benders. You're using your power to oppress and intimidate people."

"And you don't?" Tarrlok said accusingly.

"Of- Of course not!" Korra was taken aback by the accusation.

"Isn't that what you came here to do? Intimidate me into releasing your friends and Roland." Tarrlok took a seat at his desk. "See, that's what I admire about you, Korra. Your willingness to go to extremes in order to get what you want. It is a quality we both share." Tarrlok narrowed his eyes at her.

"You and I are nothing alike!" Korra shouted angrily.

"Look, I'll make you a deal." Tarrlok sighed. "You fall in line and do what I say and I'll release your friends."

"That's why you arrested them?" Korra was shocked. "To get to me?"

Tarrlok stood and crossed his arms. "I need your answer."

Korra paused for a moment. "No. You might be able to manipulate Chief Saikhan into following you but it won't work on me."

Tarrlok dropped his arms and turned away from her. He faced his wall sized ornate waterfall. "You will regret that decision."

"You need to be stopped." Korra jabbed her finger at him. "You're just as bad as Amon."

"I've tried to work with you, Korra," Tarrlok's fists were clenched in rage. "but you've made it impossible!" He turned and sent a razor sharp water whip at her. Korra dodged, but only barely as shown by the small amount of her hair falling to the floor.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" She shouted as she started to earthbend disks towards Tarrlok. She raised her arm and sent a blast of fire at him, which he responded to by shield himself with a water dome. Inside, he thrust his hand forward, sending several ice darts flying towards the Avatar.

Korra rolled to try to dodge them, but a few caught her in the leg, cleanly slicing into her. She stood up to bend again, as another dart caught her in the side. As several more lacerated her body, Korra threw up an earth shield to protect herself. Grinning slightly, she thrust her arms forward to send the wall smashing into Tarrlok which forced him through the small side wall and onto a walkway. He attempted to stand up, but stumbled backwards over a broken rail and fell several feet down into the meeting chamber.

Korra walked through the hole in the wall and looked down at him. "Still think that I'm a half-baked Avatar?" She shouted loudly as she jumped off the balcony. As she landed, she smashed her fist into the floor, earthbending a large crater around her. She rested on her knee for a moment before looking up at Tarrlok. "What are you going to do now? You're all out of water, pal." She hissed as fire breathed out of her nostrils.

Tarrlok started to crawl away and Korra smiled before rushing forward like a predator about to go in for the kill. As she drew her fist back to firebend, her body suddenly stopped in mid swing. Korra groaned loudly in pain before being force to her knees. Tarrlok advanced, holding his hands in a bending stance and standing over Korra. "You're in my way Avatar, and you need to be removed."

"You're, you're a bloodbender?" Korra whimpered as she tried to move again.

Tarrlok rolled his eyes. "Very observant of you."

"It's-not a full moon" Korra struggled some more, before Tarrlok forced her into submission. It felt like she was being controlled by a puppet master, but also the pain was nearly overwhelming. "How- how are you doing this?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." Tarrlok said as he threw her into a pillar. She laid there barely conscious as he approach her, before she slid into a dream like state. It was the same dream she had before with Aang in it. The man being accused was laughing as Aang tried to move closer to him, however blood bending was stopping him.

Slowly Korra regained consciousness. She was inside of the back of a metal van. She tried to move, but noticed Tarrlok had bound her. She looked at the door and saw him standing there. "Where are you taking me?" She hissed.

"Somewhere no one will find you." Korra's expression was one of blind rage. "Say goodbye to Republic City, Avatar Korra. You will never see it again!" Tarrlok laughed as he started to close the door. Korra leapt forward and breathed fire from her mouth at him as she screamed in anger, but he was able to slam the door in time to keep from being burned.

"You can't do this!" Korra shouted as the motor started. "Let me out!" She slammed her side into the door. "Garh!" an exasperated sigh escaped her mouth as she curled into ball on the floor. Korra finally fell asleep to the jostling of the van as it drove along. She had no idea how long she slept for when they finally slowed to a stop. Korra jumped up and readied herself for an escape, however as she heard Tarrlok's footstep crunching in the snow, her body again went rigid. "UGH!" Korra's back arched hard from the blood bending, only after he was sure Korra was under his control, did Tarrlok open the rear of the van. He roughly tossed Korra out of the van and into a snow bank, never once releasing his control.

"Such a pity." Tarrlok shook his head as he lifted her from the snow bank. "You could have been a most valuable ally." Korra was unable to even speak as Tarrlok spun her around and directed her body towards a small cabin.

From what Korra could tell, they were in the mountains. Pine trees were all around and the snow was falling heavily. "Oof!" Tarrlok slammed her into the wooden door and reached past her to turn the door knob.

"The only consolation I'll have" Tarrlok chuckled wickedly, "is when I bring that Spartan here and have you kill him yourself. If it wasn't for him, I doubt we'd even be here." Korra struggled to the best of her ability, but all she managed to do was twitch her index finger. "Who knows, maybe just killing him isn't enough… I can have you do far worse things before he dies."

Tarrlok's domination of her body felt so wrong. Korra thought that this must be what rape victims feel like. Completely unable to control their situation, but this was so much worse. She was lead down a flight of stairs and into a basement. The only item down there was what looked to be a solid metal box. Tarrlok opened the door and placed her inside. As she felt him releasing control slightly, Korra started to yell at him. "What are you doing?" She demanded, unable to turn around and see. She heard the door slam shut and her body was hers once more. "Tarrlok!" She shouted, banging her fists on the door, but all she heard was the creaking of the steps as he walked out. "You can't keep me in here forever!" She shrieked before slumping down against the wall.

The metal box was terribly shiny, almost a mirror finish and it allowed Korra to see herself for the first time in hours. Her hair was everywhere, bruises were beginning to form on her face and arms. When she lifted up her shirt, she could see several more forming, along with the multiple lacerations from the ice daggers that had been fired at her. "Way to go Korra." She mumbled to herself as she tried not to look at all the cuts and scrapes. "This is a wonderful mess you've gotten yourself into."

**So, what do you think? I tried to get into Roland's back story a bit, and I think it worked out alright. Nothing was ever mentioned about the Headhunter's being Alpha or Bravo Platoon, so I just went with Alpha. I know he would have been older than what is estimated for the age range, but oh well, I made it work. Please Read and Review. Also, please know the reviews do not fall on deaf ears. I seriously consider every suggestion and have already put a few into place in the later chapters. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12. Chapter 13 is obviously coming next and it is one of my favorites. This is not mine. **

**Chapter Twelve**

Roland was pacing his cell. The dawn light was flickering in and something in him felt terribly wrong, but he still couldn't tell what it was. He heard footsteps coming and looked up to see a guard carrying a radio. "I think you need to hear this." The man said calmly.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this special report. Late last night, Equalists attacked City Hall, subduing Councilman Tarrlok and capturing Avatar Korra. Details are still coming in, but it seems that the Avatar has disappeared." The guard clicked the radio off.

"If someone comes to break you out…" The guard paused and looked around to ensure none of his superiors were around. "I and the other guards have decided to take a much needed break for a meal." Roland wasn't entirely sure what he was saying until he finished. "We could be gone for hours." The guard winked and walked back in the direction he had come from.

Roland sat there, but soon heard multiple footsteps coming down the corridor. Lin Beifog, along with Asami, Bolin, and Mako stood in front of the door.

"Roland, we have bad news." Asami said quietly.

Roland shrugged. "I already know. Let's go find her."

Lin smiled before pulling down the door to his cell. The group charged out of the police headquarters and headed straight for Tenzin's office. "You need an appointment to see.."A secretary tried to stop them as they entered, but Lin strolled right past her and went directly for Tenzin's office.

Tenzin was on the phone when they entered. "I have to go. Call me back the minute you hear anything." He hung the phone up and jumped to his feet. "Lin? Wh-wh-what What are y- You should be in the hospital! And you four!" He said pointing at the group. "You should be in prison!"

Lin rolled her eyes. "I figured you could use our help finding Korra."

"Do you have any leads?" Roland asked cautiously.

"I've been on the phone all morning, but nothing yet." Tenzin sighed.

"We need Naga! She can track Korra." Mako said as if he had solved the problem.

Tenzin shook his head. "Her polar bear dog is missing as well."

"Then where do we start?" Bolin asked. He was absentmindedly messing with a piece of pottery on Tenzin's desk. He stumbled and nearly broke it to pieces, but no one paid much attention to him.

Lin looked at Tenzin before cutting in. "My guess is the Equalists are hiding underground, in the maze of tunnels beneath the city."

"Underground... just like my father's secret factory. Figures." Asami complained.

"Yeah! Yeah, that makes sense! When those chi-blockers had me in their truck, it sounded like we drove into a tunnel!" Bolin shouted as he started out the door.

"What truck?" Roland asked as he followed after him.

"Don't worry about that now." Mako huffed as he followed to. "I know where to start looking! Come on!"

"Wherever Amon is keeping Korra, I bet that's where my officers are too." Lin said as the she and Tenzin followed the group.

"Let's bring them all home, Lin." Tenzin said sadly. "Everyone, this way, I have a faster means of transport!" He led them to the roof and hastily, the six of them climbed aboard Oogi and took off into the air.

Mako directed them to where Bolin had been abducted the same night Roland had dropped into their lives. Tenzin had Oogi land and the group dismounted. "The truck with Bolin took off down this alley." Mako said as he started down the deserted street.

The group followed it to the next intersection. "Which way now?" Roland asked. He felt rather naked without any of his weapons, but pushed on anyway.

"Hmm. This way kinda... smells familiar." Bolin said as he sniffed at the air.

Lin did her earth sensing trick and looked at the group. "There's a tunnel nearby." She said with urgency and took off in the direction.

The slid down an embankment and before them was a massive grate. "This seems likely…" Roland muttered as Lin bent the metal away.

They followed it inside for a few steps before Lin stooped over to inspect the ground. "Motorcycle tracks." She said simply before continuing further downward.

Roland looked around. His enhanced vision allowed him see far into the tunnel and he recognized the number of off shoots going in different directions. "Korra has to be in here... somewhere."

They started down a likely path with Mako lighting the way for them. "Let's try this way." Roland said when he came to an intersection.

"And what if Korra's not down there?" Bolin asked quietly.

"Then we try another tunnel until we find her." Roland shot back. The group slowly made their way about five hundred yards down the first tunnel.

Suddenly, Lin placed her hand against the wall and bowed her head. "Hide!" She hissed, and the six of them crouched behind whatever concealment they could find.

Two equalist motorcycles rode down the tunnel. They came to within twenty yards of where the group was hiding before turning right into a wall. However, the wall lifted away revealing a secret passage way. The moment it clicked shut, Lin ran forwards and pried it open using metalbending, allowing the rest of the group to get inside as well.

The six of them followed the hidden tunnel until it opened into an underground tramway. "That tram goes to the training camp." An equalist shouted. He was holding a clipboard which made Roland assume he was the one in charge.

As the tram left, a second one pulled in with a lone equalist aboard. She climbed off and walked up to the supervisor. "Everything was delivered to the prison, sir." She said. He replied quietly and the two walked off.

"That must be where they are holding Korra." Tenzin whispered.

Lin looked around and saw that no equalists were anywhere to be seen. "We need to get down that tunnel."

Roland nodded and led the group as the sprinted forward and climbed aboard the tram. Bolin smashed a button in on the control panel and they started to move.

It took several minutes before they saw light again. "Got two equalists waiting for the tram." Roland said calmly.

"Alright, here's the plan…" Lin led the through the plan quickly and they all ducked into positions as the tram slid out into the lighted room. A buzzer sounded alerting the trams arrival.

"It's empty!" One equalist said, throwing his hands up in the air in irritation.

The other shrugged. "Yeah, I can see that." He replied sarcastically.

Out of the darkness of the tunnel, two cables shot out, grabbing both men and pulling them into the darkness. It took only moments for them to be bound and gagged. Roland patted them down and found a knife on one of them. "Thanks." He muttered as he dragged one out of the tunnel.

Lin pointed to Bolin and Asami. "You two, keep an eye on them." And then the four of them started up a small flight of stairs. Lin used her seismic search to check the prison. "My officers are inside."

"What about Korra?" Roland asked. He had his back pressed against a wall and was looking down a corridor.

"I don't see her yet." She said.

Roland took point going down the hallways. He had the knife grasped tightly in his hand as he rounded each corner silently. After the third turn, he saw three equalists walking away slowly while talking. Without a second thought, he rushed forward. Quickly tossing his knife to his left hand, he reached his right hand around and grabbed the man to the farthest right by the chin. He pulled up on the jaw with his right hand as he slid the knife into the base of the man's skull, severing the spinal cord. As the body fell like a sack and Roland turned to his shocked accomplices. The closer one looked like he was about to piss himself and the other was drawing some sort of weapon. A blast of air from Tenzin sent to armed man flying into a far wall, and Lin secured him with cables. Before the other man could do a thing, Roland slammed his right forearm into his throat and pushed him against the wall. With his left hand, he managed to pull the man's mask off without dropping the bloody knife. He then pressed it to the man's throat and fully prepared himself to dispatch him. "Avatar Korra. Where are you keeping her?" Roland hissed. The knife smeared some of the dead man's blood across the man's throat as he quivered.

Lin and Tenzin ran past Roland, but Mako stood behind him ready to fry the third man if he started to move. "What are you talking about?" The man croaked.

Roland's eyes looked as if they alone could kill him. "I'll ask you one more time; where is she?"

"We don't have the Avatar, and the Equalists didn't attack City Hall. Tarrlok's lying." The man's eyes told the truth, so Roland slowly released him to the ground.

"What do you mean?" Mako asked as Lin walked up.

"I scanned the entire prison. Korra's not here."

"Did you find your men?" Roland asked. He still had the tip of the knife pressed to the man's neck but he was looking at her.

Lin nodded her head sadly. "Yes, but that monster has already taken their bending."

Roland turned his attention back to the equalist. "Why would Tarrlok make up a story about getting attacked?"

"I don't know!" The man cried. "Please don't kill me. I have a family."

"You should have thought of that before you crossed a Spartan." Roland said as he cleanly slit the man's throat. Roland dropped him and immediately his hands tried to stop the bleeding. "Oh, and in your last few seconds of life, think of this. The benders lives that you're boss destroyed, didn't they have families to?"

The man coughed and sputtered as Tenzin walked towards them, followed by the five former metal benders. "I still don't understand why Tarrlok would do such a thing." Mako said to Lin.

"Do what?' Tenzin asked.

"Lie about being attacked." Roland prodded the now dead man with his boot. "This man claimed they never attacked or captured Korra."

"Because _Tarrlok _has Korra. He fooled us all!" Tenzin exclaimed.

Roland gritted his teeth and looked down at the floor as the blood pooled from both men. What he saw laying there shocked him. A locked and loaded M6C laid there almost smiling up at him. Roland bolted around and looked at the third man who was laying against a wall. He sprinted towards him and slid to a halt in front of the man. Looking over the suit the man was wearing, Roland could now tell that it was different. Similar to the usual uniform, but this one had additional armor attached in certain points, a small backpack almost identical to his, as well as a holster for the M6C.

"Roland. What is it?" Mako asked cautiously as he walked up behind his friend. The sudden outburst of rushing towards and unconscious body had stunned all of the group.

Without replying, Roland slowly lifted the man's mask off his head while keeping the knife tucked into the base of the skull. "It's 'bout time Rolle." The man mumbled in a southern drawl.

Roland hadn't heard that nickname in a long time. A large knot was forming on his brothers head from where Tenzin had blasted him into the wall. "You'll forgive me for keeping you tied." Roland said to Jonah as he looked his friend over.

"Absolutely. We need ta talk, a lot." Jonah said.

"Mako, give me a hand here." Roland said as he grabbed Jonah under his right arm. Mako helped him stand Jonah to his feet. "Mako, Tenzin, Lin, this is my brother in arms. Spartan Alpha-211, Jonah."

Jonah nodded to each of them, but it was hard to do with how well wrapped up he was. "Can we get out of here?" He asked. "I'm coming quietly. Trust me, I have had enough of these wackos."

Roland smiled as he stooped to pick up Jonah's M6C. If he couldn't get Korra back right now, this was the next best thing. He nodded to Lin and she removed the metal cables from Jonah's body, but kept them on his hands.

"Thanks." Jonah said simply as the group silently escaped from the equalist hideout by going back the way they had come. A few more equalists lost their lives during the escape, but the alarm was never raised.

When they made it to the surface, Tenzin used a special whistle to call Oogi to their location. It took some effort to get Jonah aboard, and Oogi struggled under the extra weight of a second Spartan and five metal benders, but the made it back to Tenzin's office safely.

"Jonah, we need to talk, like you said, but I can't trust you at the moment." Roland was going to continue, but Tenzin stopped him.

"It will take a few minutes for the council to arrive so we can confront Tarrlok, talk to your friend now."

Roland nodded his thanks. Tenzin, Lin, and her metalbenders walked out, leaving the two Spartans, Asami, and the two brothers alone it Tenzin's office. "Alright Jay, Why should I take your restraints off?" Roland asked as he seated his partner.

"Ya shouldn't. It would be stupid to do that before ya can tell if I ain't about to double cross you." Jonah glanced about the room. "Nice place."

Roland nodded before cutting the ties off with the knife he had recovered off the equalist. Asami backed away slightly and sat down next to Mako. "It's fine." Roland assured her. "I trust him."

"So, yur probably wonderin what I was doin with the equalists in the first place, aren't ya?" Jonah asked as he rubbed his wrists to get the blood flowing again.

"Yeah, that might be a good place to start." Roland said as he took his own seat. "I figure you were found by the equalists like I was found by Korra, Mako, and Bolin."

Jonah leaned back in his seat. "Yerp, that first night I was already injured from our previous engagement. Amon had me patched up and started trying to get inside my head. He thinks I despise Korra and will kill her to save ya from her 'evil avatarish clutches'." Jonah smiled at the last part.

"Yeah, you'd kill anyone just for the fun of it." Roland smiled at his friend. "Alright, so what do you know?"

"Well, right away I knew I didn't like em. They remind me of the communists from way back in the 20th." Roland nodded his agreement. "I've been trying to find a way to get in touch with ya, but ever since I didn't shoot ya in the blimp, Amon had me on guard detail."

"Anything else?" Roland asked.

"Well, yuv already seen what they did to our armor. Tried makin it into something anyone can wear." Jonah chuckled slightly. "The stuff is crap, but fine for armor to these folks."

Roland nodded. "What about weapons?"

"Ah yep, they was workin on copying our pistols. I doubt anything came from it though."

Roland stood up. "I'm satisfied." He said simply.

"What!" Asami was the one to object. "You just talked to him for less than a minute after immediately releasing him. How can you trust him already?"

Roland looked Jonah in the eyes and saw that grin of his come on. "Jonah, if you kill her, we'll both be in trouble." Roland grinned broadly as Asami tried to hide behind Mako.

"Um… guys, you are just playing, right?" Bolin asked, halfway taking a bending stance.

Roland handed Jonah back his pistol. "You do understand that we have spent more time with one another than any other human in the world, right?" Roland asked the three of them. "If I trusted him then, why shouldn't I now?"

Someone knocked on the door. It was Tenzin who entered. "The council assembled far faster than I thought. Most of them are in the meeting room as we speak."

"What's the plan Roland?" Jonah asked.

"Get yourself in an overwatch position." Roland slid the captured knife into his belt. "If Tarrlok took out Korra, he must be doing something right."

Jonah nodded and the six of them walked to the council room. Jonah remained on the second floor balcony watching the events unfold below.

"Thank you all for meeting us on such short notice." Tenzin said as he looked around the room. All the council members, except for Tarrlok stood there along with Lin Beifong, Chief Saikam, Bolin, Asami, Mako, and Roland.

"Chief." Lin said to the new chief of police.

He nodded back politely as Tarlok strolled in. "Have you news of Avatar Korra?" He asked innocently.

"We do." Tenzin looked at Tarrlok. "You kidnapped her!"

"I am shocked you would accuse me of such an evil act! I already explained: Equalists attacked us and took her!"

"Ah, but there were no equalists last night, were there councilman?" Roland asked dangerously as he strolled towards Tarrlok.

"That is a ridiculous accusation!" Tarrlok took a few steps away from Roland.

"Hey!" Jonah shouted from above. "Look who I found." He lifted up the council page by his collar and set him where everyone could see.

"It's true! He took her! I was here when Avatar Korra arrived last night, but Councilman Tarrlok ordered me to leave." The page seemed as if he wanted to run even now. "I was on my way out when I saw Tarrlok bring her down to the garage."

"That is nonsense!" Tarrlo knows enraged. "Everyone knows you're nothing but a squeaky-voiced liar!"

"Why did you wait until now to 'fess up?" Lin asked simply enough.

"I was terrified to tell because…" the page shot a glance at Tarrlok. "Because Tarrlok is a bloodbender!" Everyone in the room was taken aback and all of them prepared to fight. "He bloodbent Avatar Korra!"

"You bastard!" Roland shouted as he sprinted towards Tarrlok. His mind filled with nothing other than the thought, _kill, kill, kill. _However, bloodbending will stop even a Spartan. Tarrlok had everyone under his control in an instant. Cables from Lin and from Saikam hung lifeless in the air as the two metal benders cringed under Tarrlok's control. One by one, Tarrlok caused each person in the room to fall unconscious by cutting off the blood to their brains for a moment. He started with Tenzin, and moved trough everyone, even the page and Jonah.

Roland however, he left for last. "I had planned to make the Avatar suffer through killing you for all she has done to me," Tarrlok stood in front of the Spartan. He wore a look of victory and power as he menacingly spoke. "however, you have forced my hand. Well played, yet again Spartan." Roland's mind went into action. Subconciously, he went back to the dozens of hand to hand classes he had gone through. Even under the control of bloodbending, his muscles started to move on their own. His body managed to start a ferocious punch towards Tarrlok's face, however the councilman felt it coming and sidestepped the blow easily.

"I could kill you now, but my plans are still shaping as to what I will do to you and Korra both." Tarrlok forced Roland onto his knees. The Spartan glared at the Councilman. "Something far past mere humiliation is in store… I had planned on having her kill you, but I'll have to consider my options." He walked around behind the helpless warrior. "Maybe I'll have you gut her like an animal. I'll even give her control of her head and mouth so she can scream as you embowel her." Tarrlok kicked Roland gingerly with his toe. "You know something of the body, don't you Roland? She won't die for several minutes if you leave the heart and lungs where they are." Roland struggle for control of any part of his body, but having realized how strong the Spartan was, Tarrlok controlled even his eye lids. "With her intestines hanging out, I could then have her remove your eyes, or maybe your hands…. The options truly are endless."

He had fully encircled the Spartan and he stooped down to where their noses were only inches apart. Roland could smell fish on Tarrlok's breath as he spoke next. "Oh, another idea would be to simply restrain her to where she cannot bend or fight back, then take her for myself. She is a rather attractive female, don't you think?" Tarrlok grinned wickedly as he started to knock Roland unconscious as well. Just as the blackness started to fill in around his eyes, Roland tried to headbutt the councilman, but again he was stopped. His body only managed to allow him to spit into Tarrlok's face. One last parting shot for a mad man.

**Please Read and Review. I decided that while Roland is a Spartan, blood still flows the same way, so he's not immune to blood bending, however his years of training and experience would allow his body to act independently. **


	14. Chapter 13

**Here's chapter 13. This still isn't my stuff. **

**Chapter Thirteen**

Korra braced her back against the far wall of her small box and pushed with her feet against the door frame. She forced all of her strength into opening it, but to no avail. Exhausted from nearly an hour of attempting to escape, Korra started to simply bang on the door with her fist. "Somebody! Help! Please!" She shouted, but she knew no one could hear her. Finally she slumped to the ground exhausted. "Please." She whispered.

"_I urge you to meditate on these visions." _Korra heard Tenzin's voice in her mind. Sighing loudly and with nothing else to do, she crossed her legs and started to meditate. At first nothing happened. She could feel a bead of sweat running down her nose, but chose to focus on meditation. After a few moments, it paid off. Korra's mind was suddenly filled with images and thoughts she had never had before. Slowly, a story started to unwind, and she seemed to be watching it from Aang's point of view.

Aang was standing in the street of a much younger Republic City, looking at a restaurant. He heard several metal boots crunching behind him and turned to look. Toph Beifong and several of her metal bending policemen met Aang in the street.

"What are you doing here, Aang? I told you, I have this under control." Toph huffed.

Korra felt Aang smile as if she was doing it herself. "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't get involved," Aang said calmly. "but if what those victims said is true, we're not dealing with a normal criminal."

Toph grinned slightly herself. "Fine. Follow me, Twinkle Toes." She said as she walked into the restaurant.

Aang dipped his head out of slight irritation. "Toph, I'm forty years old. D'you think you could stop with the nicknames?"

"'Fraid not." She taunted as she opened the doorway. As soon as Toph entered the building, she was in a business as usual face and voice. No sign remained of the friendly banter she and Aang had just exchanged. The two of them accompanied by four policemen walked up to a table in the dark corner of the restaurant. When Aang inhaled, Korra swore she could smell the meats that the restaurant was cooking in the kitchen.

A man that looked to be of water tribe descent sat there eating silently. "It's over! You're under arrest, Yakone!" Toph hissed as she took a bending stance.

"What is Republic City coming to?" Yakone said calmly as he placed his leg of meat onto his plate. "Used to be, a man could enjoy his lunch in peace." Using her cables, Toph harshly restrained the man. "What's the big idea?" Yakone shouted.

"We have dozens of witnesses, Yakone. We know what you are." Aang said calmly. Again, Korra felt as if she was the one uttering those words.

Toph gestured to her men. "Take him away."

As he was led out, Yakone yelled over his shoulder. "I've beaten every trumped-up charge you yahoos have brought against me. And I'll beat this one, too!"

"Whoa…" Korra muttered. She looked around and she was in the box again. She smiled widely. "I finally connected with you, Aang." Korra looked around the box once more. She even looked up again at the metal gate at the top. "But- what are you trying to tell me? A way out of this box would be nice." With that, she returned to her meditation. As before, it took her a moment to enter the state of Aang's mind, but the story seemed to have jumped ahead slightly.

The scene was now inside of the Council hall. All in all, the room hand not changed much between this time, and when Korra had last been there. Although Korra's remodeling had to have brought some attention. A lawyer had stood up and was bringing accusations to the council about Yakone.

"Yakone has ruled Republic City's criminal empire for years. Yet he has always managed to stay out of the law's reach, until now." The female Lawyer turned to face the bystanders."You will hear testimony from dozens of his victims and they will tell you Yakone has maintained his grip on the underground world by using an ability that has been illegal for decades." She turned back to face the council. "Bloodbending."

Sokka of the Southern Water tribe was the senior councilman. His reaction of raising his eyebrows was similar to the rest of the council. The defense lawyer stood up. "The prosecution's entire case is built upon the make-believe notion that my client is able to bloodbend at will, at any time on any day." Aang looked into the face of each of the council members before resting his gaze on the back of Yakones head. "I remind the council that bloodbending is an incredibly rare skill and it can only be performed during a full moon. Yet, the witnesses will claim that my client used bloodbending at every_ other_ time _except_ during a full moon. It would be a mockery of justice to convict a man of a crime that is impossible to commit."

The story seemed to fast forward, and Sokka stood up as the recorded made an announcement. "Councilman Sokka will now deliver the verdict."

"In my years, I've encountered people born with rare and unique bending abilities." Sokka stroked his chin as he spoke."I once bested a man with my trusty boomerang who was able to firebend with his mind." He then gestured to Toph. "Why, even metalbending was considered impossible for all of history until our esteemed Chief of Police, Toph Beifong, singlehandedly developed the skill. The overwhelming amount of testimony and evidence has convinced this council that Yakone is one of these unique benders and he exploited his ability to commit these heinous crimes." Soka raised his gravel. "We find Yakone guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in prison." With that, Sokka pounded the gravel into the desk to seal his decision.

Yakone slowly stood to his feet. Korra felt Aang do the same. Suddenly, Sokka seemed unable to move, along with the rest of the council. Toph fired a cable towards Yakone, but she too was stopped by bloodbending. Korra felt Aang lung forward, but then the same feeling as when Tarrlok had bloodbent her entered her nervous system. Even Avatar Aang had been stopped by this mad man. The sensation caused Korra to begin to breathe abnormally. The feeling of a person controlling her body again was too much for her to handle and she snapped out of the trance once more.

"Aang…" Korra whispered. She leaned her head against the wall and regained her composure as best as possible. Mentally Korra resolved that she had to know what happens and she started to meditate for a third time.

This time it was almost instantaneously that she entered Aang's mind. Yakone was still bloodbending the entire room, but Korra watched this time as he pulled Toph towards himself. He had her unlock his mandibles and then proceeded to knock her unconscious. The rest of the room quickly followed. Yaknoe turned around to see that Aang was still fighting to remain conscious. Kora felt her lips moving, although with great difficulty. "Yakone." Aang said sharply. Instead of replying, the crazed lunatic force Aang's arm behind his back, causing pain to both of the Avatars. "You won't get away with this!" Aang hissed.

"Republic City's mine, Avatar. I'll be back one day to claim it." Yakone grinned evilly and bloodbent Aang into a pillar, sending him into unconsciousness.

Korra felt Aang regain consciousness and as he looked down at his hands, his tattoos glowed briefly. He jumped to his feet and airbent a scooter to chase after Yakone. _So this is what airbending feels like. _Korra thought as the two raced down city streets. Yakone was riding in a cart pulled by an ostrich horse and Aang gave pursuit with his airscooter. After several twists and turns, Aang sent a gust of wind to destroy the cart. It flipped several times and then seemed quiet as Aang stopped in front of it.

Yakone kicked part of the cart out of his way and took hold of Aang through bloodbending once more. "This time I'm gonna put you to sleep for good!" He shouted.

Aang groaned in pain as Yakone lifted him off the ground and started to crush him. However, Aang's tattoos burst into light and as he entered the Avatar state, he easily overcame the sensation of being bloodbent. He earthbent a cone of rock around Yakone to prevent him from moving and slowly walked up to the man. "I'm taking away your bending- _for good_." Aang said solemnly as he energybent away the man's ability to bend, just like he had done to Fire Lord Ozai so many years before.

Korra opened her eyes slowly. "It all makes sense." She whispered. "Aang, this whole time. You were trying to warn me about Tarrlok."She smiled and was glad to have been able to get in some type of touch with the spirit world, but a crashing noise made her stand up.

She heard footsteps stomping down the stairs. "My life is a disaster now, thanks to you." Tarrlok shouted.

"So your little bloodbending secret's out? And I know how you bloodbent me without a full moon." Korra smiled and spoke with authority. "You're Yakone's son."

Tarrlok was taken aback that she had figured this out. "I _was_ his son, but in order to win Republic City, I had to become someone else." Tarrlok pressed his hand against the metal box. "My father failed because he tried to rule the city from its rotten underbelly. My plan was perfect. I was to be the city's savior. But you- you ruined everything!"

"Tarrlok, the jig is up and you have nowhere to go." Korra challenged him.

"That's a bold statement from someone in a box." Tarrlok hissed at her. "I'll escape and start a new life. And you are coming as my hostage."

"You'll never get away with this!" Korra yelled.

"Oh, I already have." Tarrlok said as he walked towards the steps. "Oh, and that soldier of yours, it's a shame you won't be able to attend his funeral. He fought the best out of all your pathetic friends, but the each dropped, one by one."

Korra felt as if her heart had been torn out. Not just Roland, but all of her friends were dead. "Nno… that can't be true!" Korra cried.

"Oh it is…" Tarrlok laughed as he climbed the stairs. "I even have this from Roland's pocket. Obviously you can't see it, but it seems to be a necklace of sorts. Perhaps it was to be a betrothal necklace…"

Korra wanted to scream, but even more than that, she wanted to kill Tarrlok. She heard him reach the top of the stairs and gasp. "Amon!"

Korra couldn't believe it. This all had to be a trick, but she heard Amon's voice waft down the steps. "It is time for you to be equalized."

"You fool! You've never faced bending like mine." Tarrlok laughed cockily. Korra heard cries come from upstairs, likely from Amon and his equalists as they were bloodbent, but the next words terrified her. "What- what are you?" Tarrlok asked.

Korra realized that this meant Amon had fought through the bending and was probably standing over Tarrlok. "I am the solution." Amon said. Korra heard a thump hit the floor. Amon had removed the bending from the most powerful bender she could think of. "I'll take care of him." Amon said referring to Tarrlok. "You four retrieve the Avatar. Do not underestimate her. Electrocute the box to knock her out before you open it."

Korra looked around quickly and tried to think of what to do. "My pleasure." One of the men said. Korra looked at the grate at the top of the box and then at her arm band. She slid the band off as she heard several sets of feet coming down the steps. "It's payback time." A voice said as she hung all of her weight on the small arm band. She watched as electricity flashed though the box for several seconds.

When the electrocution stoped, Korra tried out her acting. She moaned loudly and fell to the floor in a heap. "Open the box." One equalist said. Korra kept her eyes shut as she heard the door squeak open. "Tie her up." Was spoken next, but Korra decided she didn't want that to happen.

With all the strength she could muster, she sent a blast of fire from her foot into the doorway. It blasted the equalist in the face, and sent him realing back as the air filled with the smeel of burnt hair and flesh.

She shot out of the box and earthbent the other three equalists back before they could fight, breaking bones, and killing one as she rushed towards the stairs. She took the steps three at a time and burst though the front door. Looking to the left through the falling snow, she saw Amon putting Tarrlok into the back of a truck. Korra felt her fight or flight kick in and she bent a wave or ice spears towards Amon. He dodged them easily, but when the snow cleared, Korra had taken off down the mountain.

"I thought I told you not to underestimate her." Amon said to his men as they came out of the house beaten and bruised.

"Sir, Lee and Ling are both dead." One of the men said cradling his broken arm.

Amon glanced at him. "We will be stepping up our plans drastically." He said. "When we return, prepare the beasts for battle, do not fall in as the last man did."

"Yes sir." The injured man glanced at his fellow equalist trooper. Both climbed into the vehicle with Amon and took off back down the mountain side.

Korra used water bending to essentially snow board down the mountain. This allowed her to cover a great distance in only a short time. However, she didn't notice the small tip of large rock protruding through the snow. Her ice board hit the rock and sent her flying through the air and into a tree trunk.

As she laid there for a moment, Korra felt her head spinning. "Roland…" She whispered. According to Tarrlok, all of her friends were dead, and it was her fault. As she slipped into unconsciousness in the snow drift next to the tree, she felt a tear freeze as it rolled down her cheek.

"Wake up!" Lin shouted to Roland shortly before she prodded him with her toe. Back in the council hall, Lin had been the first to recover from the effects of the blood bending.

"KORRA!" Roland shouted as he jumped to his feet into a fighting stance. He looked around and saw all of the others coming to as well.

"Ughh! Man! I had this awful dream that Korra was taken by this evil bloodbender." Bolin said as he held his head. "Weird right?"

"Bolin, that really happened. He knocked us out." Mako sighed to his brother.

"Are you serious?" Bolin was shocked and looked around the room. "Where is he? Is he here right now?"

"Tarrlok is long gone. I'll alert the whole force." Chief Saikhan said solemnly. He and the council members left at once.

"We've only been out for a little while. Maybe we can still pick up Tarrlok's trail." Lin said hopefully.

"It could lead us to Korra! Let's go." Tenzin jumped to his feet and led the way outside.

As they raced towards Oogi, Roland was at the rear of the group. Suddenly, he stumbled slightly. He glanced around and saw a man ambling out of an alley way towards him.

"Nice clothes ya got there…" The man hiccupped loudly. "Sorry I'm gonna hafta take em." Heambled towards Roland. The Spartan simply placed his index finger to the man's head and pushed the drunk over. He looked at the man almost with awe in his stupidness and then raced to catch up with the rest of them.

They had already boarded Oogi and as Roland climber aboard, the group flew off into the evening sun.

Korra awoke to something licking her face. She opened her eyes and saw Naga standing over her. "Naga. You came looking for me. Good girl." Korra felt her core body temperature was dangerously low. She managed to stand and climb onto Naga, but she simply slumped forward when they started to ride.

Korra remembered seeing the grasses as they came out of the snowy mountains, and then the suburbs or Republic city, and soon, they were near the factory district. Naga started to howl, and all Korra could think of was how it hurt her ears at the moment.

She moaned as she heard something thump down nearby. Barely able to turn her head, she looked and saw Oogi in the back ground with Tenzin and Lin running towards her. She started to cry silently. Roland would have been looking for her with them if he was alive. She knew he was dead at that moment.

"Korra! Oh, thank goodness." Tenzin said as he grabbed onto Naga's reigns.

Lin lightly laid her hand on Korra's back. She had shut her eyes already, tears were coating her cheeks. "Where's Tarrlok? How did you get away?" Lin asked.

Korra cracked one eye to see Lin being shoved harshly out of the way. "Give her some space!" Roland shouted. He pulled Korra into his arms and carried her bridal style toward Oogi. "Korra, I was so worried. Are you all right?" He asked.

"Roland?" Korra cried even more freely now. "Tarrlok said he had killed you." She managed between sobs.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you're safe." Korra leaned her head against Roland's chest as he walked her towards Oogi. Korra smiled at him. Roland hugged her tightly but noticed something was off. Korra had started to shake uncontrollably. She was wet and her skin was frigid to the touch. Roland started to strip her clothes off her. "Listen, you gotta stay with me, okay? Okay, Korra?"

Roland started to strip away Korra's clothes. "What are you doing!" Bolin shouted.

_I can hear him, I feel his hands gripping my shoulders tightly. Why does it feel so cold all of a sudden? He is shaking me so much, I just want to give up and sleep. _Korra's eyes fluttered open for a moment. Roland's voice seemed distant, almost echoing in her mind, even though he's right in front of her._ What is he doing? _Korra saw her shirt pass over her eyes and be thrown to the side. Roland was shouting something, but her ears stopped picking up the noise. Her head lolls to the side as her vision clouds before coming into focus to see Roland's worried face. She sees him so clearly in fact, that she's able to make out beads of sweat sliding down his forehead. _I am so cold, why is he sweating? _ Is her last thought before her sight leaves her once again and she dozes off into oblivion.

Jonah, who had been inspecting the area, heard Bolin shout and saw Roland. Jonah took off towards them and unslung his backpack as he climbed into the saddle. "Hypothermia. Wet clothes, cold skin, unable to stop the shivering." Roland said calmly to his partner. Roland had removed all of Korra's clothes until just her wrappings that covered her breasts and private regions were left.

Jonah silently handed his friend a knife and looked away. "Seriously guys, what's wrong!" Bolin asked again. Now Mako and Asami had come over as well.

"Not now." Roland hissed as he pulled his own shirt off. Jonah dug into his bag and pulled out a small shiny rectangle and then took his shirt off as well.

"Ya set?" Jonah asked.

Roland slid the knife through Korra's bindings. He refused to allow his eyes to linger, but instead remained professional and immediately covered her bare chest with is dry shirt. "Wait one." Roland cut away her wrapping that covered her lower region. "Shirt." Roland said as he held his hand out.

Jonah handed him his shirt and Roland covered Korra by sliding the arm holes over her legs and the wrapping it like a diaper. "Clear." Roland said quietly. Jonah turned and unfolded the aluminum survival blanket that he held.

Bolin, Mako, and Asami stood there aghast as the two soldiers practiced firstaid. Roland stood up and stripped away all of his clothes except for his undershorts. "What's going on!" Tenzin shouted as he now walked up.

"Gotta transfer heat fast." Jonah muttered. Roland laid down next to Korra and wrapped her shivering body in his arms. She still felt terribly cold and had fallen back into unconsciousness. Jonah wrapped the survival blanket around the two. Roland's body heat would be kept in by the blanket and this would allow Korra to be warmed as quickly as possible.

"Tenzin, we need to get back, quickly." Roland said from inside of the blanket. It crinkled loudly when he shifted his weight slightly.

Tenzin nodded as he climbed aboard. "You four stay here with Naga." He said to Bolin, Asami, Mako, and Lin. "I'll be back shortly."

They nodded as Tenzin shouted "Yip-yip" And Oogi took off for the air temple.

"Wouldn't it have been faster for you to just heat her yourself?" Asami asked Mako.

Mako watched the sky bison fly off into the night. "Probably… but you have to admit, those two know what they are doing." He said admirably as he took Naga by the reigns and they all started the walk back.

Tenzin got them back as quickly as possible, but Roland was worried the wind chill of the ride had done more harm than good. He and Jonah quickly carried Korra to her room and placed her onto her bed. Roland pulled out every blanket in the room and draped them over her before sliding into bed next to her again.

"You look like ya got it under control." Jonah said as he nodded politely. "I look forward to meeting her when she wakes."

"Thanks for the help Jay." Roland whispered.

Jonah smiled and left the room. Korra had finally stopped shivering, but her skin was still very cold. As Roland looked at her, he could seem the dozens of cuts and scrapes that covered her body, not to mention the bruises. Her hair was a mess and part of her face was swelling, but to Roland, she still looked beautiful, and most importantly, she was safe.

"Roland?" Korra stirred slowly. She opened her eyes and looked at his face only inches from hers. Slowly she realized that they were both in bed and that neither of them was wearing very much in the line of clothing. "What is going on?" She moaned. She couldn't decide if she should push him away or move closer. She shivered slightly even under all of the blankets.

Roland gently placed his arm around her and pressed his head against hers. "I'll explain later." He whispered. "Go to sleep, your safe now."

Korra smiled painfully and managed to say two almost silent words before falling back into slumber. "Thank you."

Roland sighed and pulled himself slightly closer to her. All he could think of is how much she really meant to him, and it had taken this for him to realize that he really did love this girl. Her damp hair felt good on his cheek and she felt perfect in his arms as he to drifted off to sleep.

**Alright, so while there was not really any fighting, I personally liked writing this chapter due to the hypothermia part. In the Cartoon, Korra was fine after a good nights sleep, but she had been in the snow for hours. No matter who you are, hours unconscious in a snow bank are going to be bad for you. Hence the scene where Roland and Jonah had to tend to her. As with any professionals, Spartans would easily be able to block out emotions and urges in an instance like this, but it would still be awkward. Honestly, Mako using firebending would have been faster, but the Spartans would have reverted back to training and their training would not have included a firebender. Read, review, and let me know what you think!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14. The endgame is beginning. Korra finally got rescued and now the team is safely back at the Temple. **

**Chapter Fourteen **

Korra sat at the table wolfing down food. Roland, Mako, Pema, and Tenzin sat with her. Tenzin had bent the rules and allowed some meat to be cooked so she could regain her strength faster. Korra grabbed a breakfast roll and wiped her plate clean. "Mmm. The food tastes amazing, Pema. I'm finally starting to feel like myself again." Korra said between mouthfuls.

Pema smiled as she took her plate. "We're so thankful you're home safe."

"Here, you need it." Roland said as he slid his plate in front of her. Korra didn't miss a beat before starting to eat once more. She had requested that the healers not heal the scar that ran parallel under her ear. She said something about it being a reminder.

"Korra, I realize you've been through a lot, but I need to know everything that happened." Tenzin said firmly.

Lin Beifong walked into the room. "Avatar, how are you feeling?" She asked as she was handed a plate of food by Pema.

"I'm well. I was just getting explaining that, first off, Tarrlok isn't who he says he is." Korra left everyone wondering as she drained a glass of juice. "He's Yakone's son."

"It all makes sense now." Lin shook her head sadly as she took her seat. "That's how Tarrlok was able to bloodbend us without a full moon."

"But how did you escape?" Mako asked. "And where's Tarrlok, I'd like to hit him a few times for you."

Korra placed her fork down. "Amon captured him, and took his bending." She said solemnly.

"What?" Tenzin was shocked at this revelation.

Korra took a massive bite of eggs. "Yeah, he showed up out of nowhere. He almost got me, too." She mumbled through the food.

"This is very disturbing news. Amon is becoming emboldened. Taking out a councilman, almost capturing the Avatar... I fear Amon is entering his endgame." Tenzin gravely placed his elbows on the table. "Korra, I feel you need to be watching yourself more carefully."

Korra nodded. "I will, plus, I'm not letting Roland go anywhere." Roland smiled broadly as Jonah strolled in and took a seat. "Um… who are you?" Korra asked. She had never seen him before, but he looked familiar. Roland seemed to relax when the man took his seat. He was wearing a black tank top and Korra could see his build was nearly identical, if not slightly larger than Roland, even down to the hair color, however his eyes were brown. If she hadn't known better, Korra would have assumed these two were brothers.

"Yeah, we met last night." Jonah said. "You were kinda dyin on us, so ya might not remember me." His accent intrigued her, but Bolin strolled through the door before she could speak.

"Korra! You're up!" Bolin shouted. "And there's meat!" He took a plate and dug in almost as fast as Korra had. "So what's the plan for today, team?" Bolin asked as he shoveled his breakfast away.

No one replied, but several eyes rested on Korra. "I don't know." She shrugged.

They all continued to eat until Jonah looked at Roland. "Ya remember that last big training op?"

Roland nodded. "Yeah, the one where you got stepped on?"

Jonah smiled at the thought. "Yeah, whatever do ya think happen to Frederick? He never seemed like the "headhunter" type to me."

The rest of the group was just listening; having no idea what the two Spartans spoke of, but intrigued by their conversation. "Yeah, he seemed like the sort of guy you could give a platoon to. Always did good at CQC…"

"Yeah, you'd know." Jonah smirked at him. Roland had sparred against Frederick a time or two and it never ended well for him. "How many times did he kick yer sorry butt?"

All of the group looked at Roland. He was the best fighter they knew, and apparently some Spartans were even better. "What? I lost my footing."

Jonah broke out in laughter. "He tossed ya like yesterday's trash every time."

"Eh, well what about Noah? He could match you for just about everything to."

Jonah smirked. "Not fer my looks."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "Um… who were these guys?" Mako finally asked.

Jonah shrugged. "They were the team that scored higher than us."

"Yeah, by two points." Roland added. "They were with us on the same mission that brought us here, never near us though, just in the same vicinity."

"So what do you think happen to em?" Roland asked "We heard their attack kick off when we did the lumberjack."

Jonah nodded. "Those Elites said they had killed em, but I ain't so sure. They couldn't a played with 'em and made it over to us so quickly. Guess we'll never find out though."

"So, what was it like?" Asami asked the two soldiers. "I mean, space, flying, other worlds… it all seems so foreign."

Jonah leaned back in his seat having finished his food. "Well, most of the time, we were too busy gettin shot at the notice much of the view."

"But it was amazing." Roland cut in. "This place has hundreds of years to go before you'll get something like it." He said referring to their world. "But, at least you figured out toilet paper already."

Jonah nodded his approval vigorously. "Could we ever do stuff to speed it?" Mako asked. He had leaned forward in his seat and was taking in every word.

The two Spartans exchanged glances. "I don't really know what we could do." Roland said. "We were never trained to do much other than kill."

"And I was good at it to…" Jonah added.

"That he was." Roland thought for another moment. "You see, no offense, but none of what you have is even close enough to be able to use our tech. I'm gonna have a hell of a time finding a way to get some batteries or power for my helmet and active camo."

"They always got bullets." Jonah added. "Think about it, this is what like the 19th century or so… they should a had guns years ago."

Roland looked at Tenzin. "You already have explosives, don't you?" Tenzin nodded. "We aught to get a metal bender to help us out." Roland thought aloud. "But then again, guns would just be bad for y'all, don't want everyone dead within a year."

Jonah looked at Korra and changed tracks. "So, how ya feelin tonight? Hope our first aid helped out."

"What?" Korra was taken aback. "What was wrong? I just had a few cuts and scrapes and I healed those this morning."

"You were hypothermic." Roland said calmly. "Soaking wet, uncontrollable shivering and you couldn't warm yourself." Korra still didn't seem to believe them.

"So, how does he play into that?" she asked, pointing at Jonah who she still wasn't sure of.

"He… is Jonah, my partner."

Jonah stood and extended his hand. "Spartan Alpha dash Two, one, one. You can call me Jonah."

Korra took his hand and shook it. She had seen Roland shake hands with a guard before and knew what to do. "Um… Roland, didn't he shoot at you last time?" Korra asked.

"Nah, I tried to stop him from dropping to his death." Jonah started to eat his breakfast. "Ya do know this guy is a fool, don't you?"

Korra suppressed a smile. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

Tenzin stood to his feet. "I must head back to the city to inform the council that you have been recovered."

"Hey, Rolle, I dropped a pistol mag back at that city hall place." Jonha explained. "I don't know bout you, but I ain't got but three left other than that one. I'd kinda like to go retrieve it."

"By all means Jonah, you are welcome to accompany me." Tenzin said. "First though, a word please, Lin." Lin and Tenzin exited the room as Bolin and Asami entered.

"Hey, Asami." Korra whispered as she sat down next to her. "Thanks for undressing me last night, but I had clothes, you didn't need to use Roland's shirts."

Asami blushed. "Um… I didn't undress you." She said.

"But Pema hadn't seen me yet…." Korra looked shockingly at Roland. "What did you do?" Her voice was full of controlled rage.

Roland threw up his hands to protect himself if needed. "In my defense, you were dying." He said.

"Ma'am, we've been trained in first aid. I can assure you, we were both professional about it." Jonah broke a piece off his roll and ate it.

"You both!" Korra looked as if she was about to kill someone.

Roland shrugged. "First procedure is to get wet clothes off. They sap heat away from the body and if we'd left them on, you may have died on the flight back."

Korra's hands were balled into fists. "Roland, I think we need to go talk." She hissed.

"Nice knowing ya!" Bolin mumbled as the two left.

The two of them walked back to their shared room. Roland noticed Lin Beifong carrying Meelo by one of her cables as she held her nose. Just before they entered to room, he saw Jonah and Tenzin climbing onto Oogi to head into the city.

Korra held the door open for him as they entered. Roland spun on his heal when he heard the door slam. "I was only..." Korra slapped him on the cheek before he could finish.

"You saw me naked!" Korra was almost screaming. "Not just in my wrappings, but naked!"

"I had to get your clothes off you."

"No! You could have let me die. Not only you, but Jonah! I have never even met him!" Korra looked as if she was about to hit Roland again.

"Korra. Do you know how hard we looked for you?" Roland said quietly. He knew she would be mad, but not like this. "I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again. And... Korra...there was still so much that I wanted to tell you," he explained. Roland looked her over to gauge her expression. On impulse, he brought his hand to cup her face, leaning in with his lips slightly parted to kiss her.

"No, I don't care." Korra said, pulling away from him. "You undressed me and probably drooled all over me in the process." Korra pushed past him and sat down on her bed.

"I am sorry you are taking this so hard." Roland took a knee in front of her and took her hand. "All I wanted was what was best for you, and I would rather you be mad at me for the rest of a long life, than dead last night."

Korra tried to pull her hand away, but Roland reached his other hand out and held on with both. "We are both professionals. Not only that, but Jonah offered to turn away while I covered you. I didn't dawdle or stare; I just did what needed to be done as quickly and respectfully as possible."

"But, everyone one else…" Korra pictured her unconscious in a busy street.

Roland shook his head. "We had you up on the saddle. No one else could have seen a thing."

With that, Korra fell into Roland and started bawling. Obviously she was still emotional form the last days events. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you!" She cried. "No one has ever seen me like that before."

Roland wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head into his chest. Woman could definitely get emotional quickly. "It's fine, you're allowed to be a little moody after what you've gone through."

"But I assumed you did things you never would do." Korra pushed off him just enough to look at him. "Why are you so good at this?" She asked.

Roland pursed his eyebrows questioningly. "At what?"

"At a relationship. You're patient, you care, and you say what needs to be said."

"Nah, I just wing it." Roland smiled as he ran his thumb over the small scar on her cheek. "I am sorry you took this so hard, but like I said, I'd do it over to save you again."

Korra kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Roland pulled her in closer and the two kissed until Korra broke it and took a deep breath. She slid her head onto Roland's shoulder and sighed. "Last night…" She whispered into his ear.

"What about it?" Roland asked innocently.

"I wasn't dreaming about you, was I?" Korra smiled as she asked.

Roland grinned bashfully. "You were still shivering. One of the fastest ways to heat someone is to share body heat."

Korra leaned back and looked at him. "You know, you can really kill a moment."

This time, Roland kissed her. It was short and sweet, still desired by them both. "No, you didn't dream. You slept in my arms from the time I brought you back from the city streets until dawn."

Korra looked at him funnily. "Why did you leave?"

Roland sighed and sat back. "Okay. After all that just happened, you are asking me that! Look, I bet I even have a hand print on my face."

Korra grinned and kissed his cheek where she had slapped it only minutes before. "I'm sorry for that to."

"Eh, I guess I have to forgive you, but you have to kiss me again." Roland pulled her in for another kiss when a distant rumbling stopped him.

"What's the matter? I won't bite." Korra said tauntingly, but with a slight tone of worry.

"Shhh, did you hear that?" Roland stood up and reached to open the window.

"It was probably just thunder." Korra sighed as she stood up.

Roland opened the window as an explosion detonated in the city streets across the waterway. He stared at the large beautifully city before him. The sunlight reflected off the sleak clean windows of the large buildings that also seemed to make it gleam in radiance. This city was far different than the cities from his universe that were made of large skyscrapers that towered over each other, all reaching for the clouds.

Airships hovered over several parts of the city and several more explosions detonated on buildings and prime areas where benders frequented. "Thunder, huh?" Roland asked as he walked to back to his bed.

"Amon…" Korra's eyes were glued to the scene before her. "He really did move up in schedule, didn't he?"

"Yes, Republic City is under attack." Roland said. He lifted a bag from under his bed and placed it with his back pack on top. He started putting pieces of his dull red armor on. Shin guards attached to his boots at a pivot point, gloves and wrist guards, and a chest piece along with the small backpack and a belt. He had all of his extra pistol magazines on the belt, along with two frag grenades and a charge of C12.

Korra was still fixated on the explosions. "You know, they are kinda pretty."

"Yeah, you and Jonah would get along just fine." Roland looked around. "Did you bring my gear back from the car?" He asked.

Korra finally turned from the explosions. "Wow… you look good. I like the red... Yes, it is under my bed." She pointed and Roland pulled his stuff out. His pistol, knife, and cloaking device all were fit into their place.

"78 bullets isn't a lot." Roland looked longingly at his M7S Submachine gun as he held his helmet with one hand. He slid the submachine gun under the bed for later.

"That's why I'm with you." Korra said. She walked towards the door. "We should probably find the others."

Roland nodded and the two ran out to the courtyard. Parger and the rest of the White Lotus guards stood looking at Republic City with Lin and the children. Asami, Mako, and Bolin ran out as well.

"We heard explosions, what's going on?" Mako asked.

"Republic City is under attack." Lin said sadly. Her eyes were still fixated on the sight.

"Alright, let's go take the fight to them." Roland said as he slid his helmet into place. He flexed his hands and although this wasn't his full suit of armor, it still felt great to be back in it.

"We can use Tenzin's boat to get across." Korra said.

"Wait, Jonah has a bag of stuff!" Bolin said as the group started towards the dock.

"Go get it then!" Mako shouted at his brother.

Bolin took off as Parger walked towards the group. "Take care, Spartan." He shook Roland's hand firmly.

"You too. Remember what I showed you for fighting, just in case." Roland's voice projected loudly from the helmets speakers.

"That helmet looks sick by the way." Parger smiled.

"Thanks, I figured it'll come in some help. I have the dedicated battery set up to it. My HUD, is showing my vitals, and I can use the VISR to I.D. my threats."

Parger shrugged. "I have no idea what that meant, but maybe they'll die of fear!" He nodded to the Avatar and rallied the other guards.

Bolin ran back up clutching Jonah's bag. "Got it, this is all."

Korra cracked her knuckles. "Let's take it to them."

Korra used her water bending to get them across the channel in minutes. They climbed out of the boat and onto the city streets.

"Where did you say you parked the car?" Asmai shouted over the falling bombs.

"It's right around here somewhere. Korra looked around quickly before spotting it. "There it is!" The car was smashed into a street light about two hundred feet away.

"Wow, nice parking job!" Asami said sarcastically as the five of them ran towards it.

"Hey, you guys got arrested and left me alone with a car! I made it very clear I don't know how to drive." Korra said as she jumped into the back seat.

"All things considered you did a great job!" Bolin said. He grabbed a handful of yellow pieces of paper off the windshield. "But how are we going to pay for all these parking tickets?"

Mako grabbed the tickets from Bolin and turned them to ash. Bolin gasped in horror. "Relax, the city is under attack. The police have more important things to worry about."

Mako jumped into the front seat as Asami slid into the driver seat. She started the car as Bolin and Roland climbed into the back with Korra. Asami threw the car into reverse and drove backed into traffic.

"Car!" Bolin shouted as a vehicle sped past them. "Oh, we're good."

Asami threw it into drive and the sped off. "Where to!" She shouted.

"Police headquarters. We need to see what they want us to do to help." Korra shouted back.

Asami took turns like a mad woman, but they made it to the police headquarters in record time. Six Mecha tanks surrounded the building. Tenzin and Jonah were trying to fight them off and two were already destroyed. A truck was driving off, unknown the Korra, it was full of captured metal benders.

"Bolin, I need ramps." Asami said. Bolin earthbent two ramps for the wheels and the car flew into the air. "Jump!" Asami shouted. The five of them landed and prepared to fight as one of the Mecha tanks exploded. Three of the tanks turned to face the new threat. Korra, Bolin, and Mako went after one and easily dispatched it.

Another managed to grab Mako and begin to electrocute him, however he redirect the electricity, destroying the tank in the process.

Roland fired six bullets into a tanks windscreen, but they failed to punch through. "Um… Korra!" Roland shouted as he dodged a cable from the tank. Korra jumped off of one of Bolin's ramps and bent water into the tanks exhaust pipe. It started to shuddered loudly and the engine coughed. Bolin smashed two earth blocks into the legs, causing it to crash to the ground. Roland ran forward and fire two shot to destroy the hinge before firing two more into the driver. "Thanks, I guess Sato upgraded the armor after last time."

Tenzin and Jonah had managed to destroy one of the tanks attacking them, and as two of Jonah's bullets skipped off the armored windscreen, Asami touched her glove to the leg, causing the tank to lock up and fall over. Tenzin then blasted the lock off as Jonah ran forward and stabbed his knife into the now open cockpit. Blood spurted out, covering his arm and face, but he grinned as he had so many times before.

After surveying the damage, the group rallied in the center of the carnage.

"Are you all right?" Korra asked Tenzin.

"I'm fine. Thank you, kids and Jonah. Another moment later and I would have been on my way to Amon."

"Nah, I had ya covered." Jonah chuckled to Tenzin as he walked up to Roland. "I got my crap back at the island." He said as he wiped a bit of the blood off his face.

"Nope." Roland unslung his backpack and started to hand Jonah his gear. Jonah had more of his armor than Roland, in fact, he nearly had the entire suit. Jonah took out his comms and then cast his helmet to the side before he started attaching the rest of his armor. The helmet still had the long crack in it from the Elite that attacked him. The helmet was essentially useless other than for some ballistic protection, but it wouldn't allow him the breath well either.

"What's your ammo count?" Roland asked as he buckled one of Jonah's shin plates onto him.

Jonah shook his head. "I have four left. Tenzin and I were ambushed and I never got to that extra magazine, then right before y'all showd up, I thought we were done so I dumped a few too many into a tank to try to stop it."

Roland took out three magazines and handed them to Jonah. "Here, I have sixty eight. What ever happen to you M7S?"

"Ha, that thing was never loaded. I have one mag right here," Jonah held the magazine up before placing it in his rucksack. "Sato has the weapon, but not the firing pin." Roland grinned and thought of how Jonah had threatened him with an unloaded weapon and unfunctional weapon.

"You just can't pack light, can you?" Korra asked as she watched Jonah attach the armored plates.

"No ma'am, gotta look my very best!"

Korra squatted next to Jonah and handed him a shoulder piece. "It's nice to meet you Jonah, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

"No worries ma'am, I understand you were havin an off day." Jonah was nearly half way done with his gear.

"Well, thank you for saving me, and you don't have to call me ma'am. Call me Korra."

"Okay… Korra…" Jonah smiled at her as he put his earpiece into place. "Comm check, Over."

Since his helmet was not sealed with the rest of the suit, Korra could barely hear Roland come back. "I read you Lima-Charlie. Out."

"Uh, guys... look." Bolin said urgently. Several equalist airships were headed straight for the island.

"Oh no." Tenzin whispered. "Come this way! We can make it on Oogi!" Jonah buckled his last strap and took off with the group.

**I enjoyed doing this chapter, especially Korra's reaction to the first aid. Being a guy, I just had to guess what a woman's reaction would be, but I think it fit pretty well. Again, she was captured, bloodbent repeatedly, and nearly died of hypothermia. I think she was allowed a mood swing or two after all of that. So, I have a question for you as readers, and you can answer via a review or via a PM. Should I kill off a character later in the story, if so, who and why? **

**Bolin: Brother of Mako, and not a huge character in the story. This death would end badly for Mako, Asami, and Korra, but I don't really want to kill of a LOK character. **

**Roland: Story pretty much centers around him, but I think I could make it work. His death would crush Korra's spirit. **

**Jonah: Roland's fellow headhunter. **

**Or, do you think it should be someone else? **

**Read, Review, and tell me who you think should die. **

**Also, no update for tomorrow. I have to go spend the day in a nearby town, and I'll be working out all day and playing airsoft, so I'm pretty much gonna collapse when I get home. **


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15, this is not my stuff. **

**Chapter Fifteen **

"Dad!" Jinora shouted as Oogi landed in the courtyard. Over a dozen equalists were kneeling there before the White Lotus guards.

Team Avatar, plus Jonah and Tenzin jumped out. "Take these Equalists and lock them in the temple's basement!" Lin said to Parger.

"Alright, you heard her, on your feet!" Parger shouted to the captured men.

As they were ushered inside, no one noticed as one man bolted towards Korra, who had her back turned to the prisoners. The equalist had a knife in his hands that he'd also used to free himself with. He drew the knife up into, ready to plunge it into Korra's neck. His feet carried him closer with each step, while all of the Lotus guards we focusing on other prisoners and Tenzin was talking with Lin and his kids.

"You let them fight? Do you realize what could have happened?" Tenzin shouted as a pair of suppressed shots rang out. Korra turned to see the man fall to his nearly removed knees. She saw Roland and Jonah both aiming their pistols at him.

"I would have been toast if it weren't for your kids. You should be proud. You taught them well." Lin said in the background, she hadn't even noticed the incident.

"Tenzin, can you take your kids inside?" Roland asked quietly as he approached the wounded equalist.

Tenzin looked and saw what was happening. He nodded and took his kids to be with his wife. Apparently she had gone into labor with their fourth child. Once they were inside, Roland tapped his suppressor to the man's skull. "Parger, why don't you have that group wait for a moment."

Jonah walked up and slowly drew his knife. "So, ya wanted ta kill the Avatar, did ya?" Jonah slid his knife across his wrist armor, causing a metallic screeching that made the equalist cringe.

The man now seemed as if he was going to pee himself. His eyes were watering from the pain of being shot in both knee caps. "Let me ask you something." Roland said as he slid his helmet off and squatted down to look the man in his eyes. "What did she ever do to you?"

"She is a bender!" The man scoffed.

"So, what does that mean? I'm not a bender, and I don't want to kill her." Roland dragged the barrel of his pistol across the man's chest. "In fact, I like her… a lot. And I am rather pissed that you would want to kill her."

The guards, Lin, Bolin, Asami, and Korra watched as the two Spartans worked. "I'm sorry." The man said.

"Oh, Jonah, he's sorry…" Roland looked up at Jonah and spoke with a mocking accent.

Jonah scrapped the knife across his armor once more. "I cen fix em." Jonah said menacingly. "I've only known her fer a day, and I ain't got nothin against her."

"My buddy here has removed the head of one of his opponents and used it to kill another… no he is not the kind of guy you want to mess with." Roland whispered menacingly.

"I said I was sorry!" The man shouted back. He looked to the people around him for help, but no one moved.

"Jay, I think I'll handle this one myself." Roland said as he stood up.

"I'm sorry! I never should have done it!" The man shouted. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape route.

"Oh, you're sorry. Tell ya what, you can go give Korra a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and make it up to her. Heck, she might even heal you…" Roland clicked his safety off. "First though, I want to get inside your mind. What makes you hate benders?"

"Benders took my…" Roland deposited a single .45 slug into the man's head, causing it to almost explode out the back. Asami shrieked and hid her eyes. Korra, Mako, Bolin, and most others jumped back slightly as the brass casing bounced on the stone ground.

The body fell face first into the ground with a sickening slap. Roland prodded the back of the head with his boot as Jonah spoke. "Well, there's yer problem." He said as Roland pushed some brain matter and skull fragments aside.

"I don't really care actually." Roland said to the dead man. He lifted his pistol and fired three shots into the man's back. Each shot made a wet slurping sound as it entered the man's flesh.

"To quote you…" Jonah sighed. "Over kill, don'tcha think?"

Roland shook his head. "Not this time." He turned to face the other equalist prisoners. "Who's next!" He shouted at them. All of them shrank back terrified of the warrior before them. "That's what I thought. Go ahead Parger."

Parger nodded. "Get down those stairs!" He shouted. "That Spartan will probably eat the next one of you."

Roland walked up and tapped him. "Here, if the island is overrun, don't let them keep fighting for Amon." Roland handed Parger one of his grenades. "Just pull this pin out and throw it into the room with the prisoners."

Parger nodded gravely and placed the grenade carefully inside his pocket before following the prisoners down into the basement.

Korra placed a hand on Roland's shoulder. "Was that necessary?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. It was, both for me, and for those equalists." Roland hugged her. "I'm not going to lose you again."

Korra thought of how thankful she was that Roland was on her side. He would be a terrible enemy. She glanced at Jonah who was picking his teeth with his knife as he prodded the dead body, _"he would probably be worse." _She thought.

"These sure do make mess of people." Jonah sighed as he glanced at his M6C before holstering it.

Bolin walked forward with Mako and the two of them looked at the body. Asami had refused to go near it. "That was a…" Bolin started before Mako threw his hand over his mouth.

"Bo, if this is a joke, now is not the time." Bolin nodded looked at the dead man.

"Hey, look alive you kids, reinforcements are coming!" Lin called out. She had climbed to the top of the building and saw several more airships approaching the island.

Korra ran inside to tell Tenzin. She slid the door opened and saw the family together, looking at the new child. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but more airships are coming." Korra said.

Tenzin nodded gravely. "Is everything gonna be alright Daddy?" Ikki asked.

"Yes dear, it will be." Tenzin stood and walked outside with Korra. "What do you want to do, Tenzin?" She asked.

Tenzin sighed. "I need to protect my family, and get them as far away from this conflict as possible." Lin walked p. "If Amon got his hands on my children... I hate to even think of it."

"If you're leaving, then I'm going with you." She said decidedly.

"But." Tenzin started before being cut off by Beifong.

"No arguments. You and your family are the last airbenders. There's no way in the world I'm letting Amon take your bending away."

"Thank you, Lin." Tenzin looked as if that was a load off his chest. "Korra, I want you to leave this island and hide for the time being."

"I'm not giving up." Korra said.

"I'm not asking you to. I sent word to the United Forces. They will be here soon. And once my family is safe, I will return. With the reinforcements, we can turn the tide in this war." Tenzin placed his hand on the young Avatars shoulder and hoped she understood.

"What you're saying is, we need to be patient." Korra sighed.

"You're learning well." Tenzin smiled.

A few minutes later, Tenzin and his family were ready to leave. His had placed his family on to Oogi, and the air acolytes and climbed aboard the other two Bison.

"Stay safe, Korra." Tenzin said as he hugged her.

"You too." She replied.

"All of you." Tenzin said as he prepared to leave, fight well! I shall return soon!" Everyone nodded gravely. "Oogi, yip, yip." And with that, they took off and were gone. Two airships that were nearing the island broke off to peruse them as several others started dropping men.

Parger and the other White Lotus guards ran and prepared to fight. "Go! We'll hold them off!" Parger shouted.

"Remember to blow stuff up." Roland said as he shook Parger's hand once more.

"Go Spartan, we will hold as long as we can." Parger took his place in the defensive line.

"Naga!" Korra shouted. Naga raced up. "I'm sorry girl, this is going to hurt." Korra looked at the group. "Everyone, climb on!" They all managed to get on somehow. Roland and Jonah we both holding onto the side. Naga stood slowly, but with determination. "Let's go, girl!" Korra shouted as they took off for safety.

Naga managed to swim all of them across the channel underwater with Korra using her waterbending to sustain an air bubble around them. As they came out of the water on the far side, one of the airships that had been chasing Tenzin and his family was crashing into the ocean and the other was smoking and had turned back.

"I hope they made it." Korra said.

They heard a thump of an explosion resound across the water. "What was that?" Asami asked.

"Asset denial." Roland said. He turned to face the sewer tunnel and left it at that. "Korra, we should get moving." Roland said as he clicked on his helmet light.

"Yes, let's go." Korra said as the first few drops of a terrible storm started to fall outside.

On the island, Parger had managed to detonate the grenade and kill the captured equalists. He was standing there waiting to have his bending removed when Lin Beifong was ushered out. She had tried to destroy several equalist airships to protect the airbenders, but had been captured in the process.

"Tell me where the Avatar is and I'll let you keep your bending." Amon said through his sinister mask.

"I won't tell you anything, you monster." Lin spat back defiantly.

"Very well." Amon walked behind her, and Parger watched as the most powerful earth bender he knew had her bending taken away. Lin fell to the ground unconscious. "Next." Amon said. An equalist shoved Parger forward.

"This man not only is an earthbender, but he killed several of our men with one of the Spartans weapons." An equalist said from behind Parger.

"That Spartan has become a problem almost as much as the Avatar." Amon looked at Parger. "You, where are they?"

"If I did know, I wouldn't tell you even if you killed me." Parger proceeded to spit at Amon's feet.

"And this is why you must be equalized." Amon said as he reached his hand down, blocking out Pargers vision.

As Parger was equalized, Team Avatar was moving cautiously down the sewer tunnels.

"Watch yerselves…" Jonah whispered harshly. "Amon's men got hidin places all over these tunnels."

He got several hushed responses, and continued on. It had been decided that Jonah and Roland, with their enhanced vision would lead the way. Roland was somewhere up ahead using his helmet with something called VISR to check the place out.

"I don't get it?" Bolin loudly whispered. "Why did Amon not just go for us in the first place, I mean the island is pretty vulnerable."

"You also don't get the concept of sneaking, do you?" His brother hissed back. Jonah threw up a fist as a sign to halt. He took a knee and touched his hand to his ear.

"Korra, come here." He whispered back through the group. Korra had been at the back of the procession holding Naga's reigns and leading her along.

"Here Bolin." Korra handed the reins off to him before moving up to Jonah's side. "What's up?" She asked quietly.

Jonah took a small rubber ear piece from his ear and shoved it into hers. "Go." Jonah said quietly.

"Korra, can you hear me?" Roland asked through the headset. Jonah pointed to a small microphone he held in his hand.

"Yes, I hear you." She said softly, unsure of how this technology worked.

"Good." Korra could her Roland breathing on the other end. "I see what looks like a group of homeless people ahead. I don't think they're a threat."

Korra looked at Jonah for a response, but realized that he could hear what was being said. "Okay, why do you need me then?"

"One of them is bragging about how he knows you." Korra heard Roland click his tongue softly. "He's talkin about you given him a fish or something. He's pretty rough looking."

Korra smiled, oh how she never thought she would cross paths with him again. "Grey hair, spread out everywhere, some facial hair, moves kinda jerkishly." She described to the best of her memory.

"Yeah, that's the one. You wanna come on up and talk to him?"

Korra nodded, then realized that a nod doesn't transmit through a radio. "Yes, I'll come up. His name is Gommu, and he helped me my first day here."

"Roger, I'm a few dozen yards ahead. Left hand side, just before you reach the light." Korra handed the headset back to Jonah before she moved forward as quietly as possibly. After a few steps, she could hear the low rumble of voices.

She rounded a bend and saw several people sitting around a small fire off to the side of the tunnel. Sure enough, Gommu was shouting about her to the group. She looked around, but didn't see Roland. She took a few more steps forward before a hand wrapped around her mouth and started to pull her down. She heard Roland whispering "Don't yell, don't yell." As he pulled her behind the wall he was at.

"I almost fought you." Korra hissed.

Roland shrugged before sliding his helmet back into place. "I didn't want you to walk in there without knowing where I was first." Korra stood there looking at him. "Well, go ahead, announce your presence." He said through the helmet speakers.

She inhaled about to shout out, when he silenced her with a finger over his visor. "From over there…" He motioned to across the tunnel. She frowned at him and walked across. Roland aimed his pistol at the group, just in case.

"Gommu!" Korra shouted as she walked into the light. "What a surprise!"

Several of the people around the fire jumped up about to fight. Fortunately for them, they didn't attack, or several shots of .45 ACP would have handled them before they knew what happen.

"Avatar Korra?" Gommu got his friend to stand down. "What on earth is you doing here?"

Korra shrugged. "I sorry to say, I'm hiding. I and my friends were attacked by Amon's troops. Help is on the way, but we need somewhere to hide out."

"Of course Avatar! You gave me one of your fish when I was hungry, this is the least I can do." He motioned to his friends, and two of them earth bent a hole into the wall. "Have your friends come on out."

Korra turned back into the darkness. "Come on out guys, it's safe." She shouted.

Mako, Bolin, and Asami walked out first, followed by Naga. "Where are Jonah and Roland?" Korra asked, but before anyone could reply, the two Spartans emerged from the shadows, content that the area was safe.

Gommu and his friends stared at the strange men with awe. "Follow me, Avatar." He said as his friends led them for around five minutes before they emerged into a hobo community.

"This is amazing!" Asami gasped. People where everywhere, even though it was evening. Most of them lived in mere shacks or in nothing at all. They all chose to live in the sewers because it stayed warmer in the winter.

"My hut, is your hut." Gommu said showing them to a box smaller than Naga. "But it couldn't hurt for you to sleep outside." He said with a laugh.

Gommu had a fire ring outside of his box, and Team Avatar set up to sleep around it. After the long day, all of them, including Naga slept soundly. All except Roland and Jonah, who silently sat together looking over their armor all evening. Just like they had months before on their last operation together.

"Stupid stuff." Jonah mumbled sometime in the predawn hours. They had gotten all of the armor cleaned and were starting to refit it.

Roland grinned at this partner. "Hey, at least it's not as bad as MJLONIR." He held up one of the plates. "We only have to power the helmet and av camo. Two's gotta have shields and all their other crap."

"I like their crap." Jonah sighed as he stacked the plates neatly and started to fiddle on the inside of Roland's helmet. "Ya know, ya only got ninety hours left on this battery." He said.

"Yeah, I do. I'll take the hurdle when it comes."

Both Spartans continued to square away their armor until they were satisfied it was done. Just as the sun peaked over the horizon, both Spartans fell asleep leaning back to back, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Later that day, a rally was held at City Hall by the equalists. Airships orbited the area and several mecha tanks were stationed at the major roadways in, not to mention the dozens of equalist troops that were walking around. No one paid attention to a male and a female both dressed in equalist garb, including the masks, as they listened to Hiroshi Sato.

"It is a glorious day, my Equalist brothers and sisters! Amon has torn down the tyranical bending government!" Hiroshi motioned to the City Hall behind him that was draped with equalist flags. "He has declared bending illegal and he has the Avatar on the run. Our great leader has a vision for the future. One day soon, bending will no longer exist and we will live in a world where everyone is finally equal!" The crowd roared and it took a moment for them to settle down.

"The United Forces are on their way right now to try and stop that dream." Hiroshi leaned into the microphone. "But we will prevail!" Again, the crowd roared in agreement. As it did, the pair of equalist troops slipped away and headed for the Republic City Park. They were silent as they walked. The male lifted up away a bush as the female bent away a stone covering. They both jumped into the new hole before the female sealed it behind them.

Now safely inside of a tunnel, Korra ripped off her mask. "Can you believe Hiroshi? "The Avatar's on the run"." Korra balled her hands into fists. "I'm not running from anyone! Let's go back up there and knock some heads; they'll never know what hit 'em." She shouted as she turned to go back above ground.

Roland grabbed her arm with one hand as he took his own mask off with the other. "Relax. Tenzin said help is coming. Just wait and we'll strike as a unit."

Korra hated when Roland was right like this. She shrugged his hand off and followed him back to the Hobo Haven. "I hate this "being patient" stuff." She sighed as they walked into the area.

"You two were gone a while." Bolin said matter of a factly. He and Jonah had gone back to recon the way Team Avatar had come in.

"We were _doing_ reconnaissance." Roland sighed at his friend. "With Jonah, y'all probably just blew something up or killed someone."

Jonah shrugged. "I only saw two of them…" He said, referring to equalist soldiers. "I had to teach this guy how to slit a throat, didn't I?"

Bolin wiped his hands on his pants as if to get imaginary blood off them. "Bolin, don't sweat it." Roland reassured him. "They would have captured you and taken you to Amon. Killing is what we do." He said motioning to Jonah. "Just don't ever start to enjoy it, our you'll end up like him." Roland pointed at Jonah who just grinned crookedly.

"Ya still wouldn't trust me with yer kids, would ya?" Jonah was relaxing against a box, perfectly content with life.

Roland thought of how he had regretted those words when he thought Jonah was gone. "Nope, I still wouldn't, unless something drastic changes you." Jonah smiled and then leaned his head back to sleep.

Mako and Asami returned last. They had been checking out the industrial district. As they approached, Gommu slid in between them. "Welcome back! Hope you worked up an appetite, 'cause dinner is served!" He chimed.

Gommu hurried them all over to the fire and started to ladle out stew. "Thanks so much for letting us hide out with you." Korra said as she received her stew.

"Honored to oblige." He handed a bowl to Mako. "My associates and I heartily oppose Amon's so-called "equalist" policies. We got benders and non-benders living together down here, but do you see us fighting? No siree; we figured out how to harmoniously co-exist."Korra nodded happily, at least someone knew how to live this way.

"You are a wise and noble hobo." Bolin said as he took a bite of stew. "_Mmmm_. This is the best-tasting street gruel I've ever had. Seriously!"

"I culled it from the finest dumpsters the city has to offer!" Gommu said proudly.

Roland and Jonah looked at each other, they're eyes asking if they should spit it out, but the stew tasted fine, so they continued to eat. Asami on the other hand looked into the dish for several second before putting it behind her.

"General Iroh should be arriving soon." Mako said as he finished his stew. "It wouldn't hurt to get a good night's sleep."

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways to bed down for what was hopefully to be a quiet evening.

**By popular demand, no one died, well no "good guys" died. It didn't turn out well for the equalist. Spartans always seemed like the "No better friend, no worse enemy." Type of warrior. **

**Make sure to read, review, and let me know what you think! **


	17. Chapter 16

**Here's chapter 16. I am only going to update Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for this week. I got a little behind in writing last week cause of finals and PT tests. **

**Chapter Sixteen **

Korra attempted to sleep leaned back against Naga as she had done several times before. It was comforting to hear her large friends resounding heartbeat, but she was still unable to sleep. The Hobo Haven had slowed down not long after Team Avatar bedded down for the night. Other than the occasional child crying or drunk man shuffling around, it was almost peaceful.

She thought of the war. Tomorrow, the battle would begin. Korra tried shifting her weight around, but couldn't get comfortable.

"Can't sleep either?" Roland whispered as she sat down next to her.

Korra shook her head. "No, I have this awful pit in my stomach." She looked at the warrior sitting next to her. "I thought you could sleep anywhere?"

Roland grinned at her. "I can, but you can't." He folded his arms behind his neck and leaned back into Naga's soft fur.

"It's so crazy." Korra thought back. "A few months ago I was in the South Pole practicing for my firebending test, and now I'm in the middle of an all-out war."

"And I was in one. Jonah and I were probably hitting that incursionist asteroid about the same time you were smuggling your way here."

"I know, we didn't even know each other then. And now, I can't imagine my life without you in it." Korra leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him.

"What makes the Avatar even consider liking a guy like me?" Roland asked. "I mean, I'm just a soldier. It's not glamorous, and I have a lot of blood on my hands."

Korra thought for a moment. She rested her chin on him and looked up into his green eyes. "You're noble, honorable, you care not just for me, but for everyone you've met." Korra paused to let her words sink in. "You are more courageous than anyone I know, and you're not too bad to look at either."

Roland kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks… I think you're pretty incredible too but... you already knew that."

Korra smiled. "No, I don't know why you think I'm incredible."

"You remind me a lot of a Spartan." Roland began. "You're hard headed, blunt, and passionate about what you do, but you're also terrified of the responsibility that has been placed on you. You hide it well from most of the people you know, just like I did around my brothers and sisters."

"There are female Spartans?" Korra looked at him quizzically.

Roland nodded. "Yes, not quite as many, and there weren't any female Headhunters, but there were several female Spartans. They met the same requirements the rest of us had to."

Korra thought for a moment about what kind of life she would have had as a Spartan. "I don't think I would have enjoyed it." She said.

"Nah, it's not far off from what you do now… at least if you were a Spartan II." Roland sighed and thought back to the legendary Spartans. "They were always in the public eye, able to be awarded and portrayed as heroes."

"Didn't you ever get recognized?" Korra asked.

"No, but I never really wanted to be. I did my job, and they did theirs. That's all that mattered." Roland pulled Korra in closer to himself. "There was one Spartan, Sierra 117, The Master Chief. He was the most famous of them all. Every Spartan III idolized him. He has fought in nearly every engagement that involved the Covenant, and he fought the incursionists before that."

"Why was so great about him?" Korra was finally starting to relax a bit, enjoying the tales of this new hero.

"What wasn't? He was a born leader. He cared about his men. He was the best choice they could have made to lead the Spartans. Never showed any fear, and probably never even felt any."

"Wait." Korra interrupted him. "What about what you told me about only a fool isn't afraid."

"He is the Master Chief." Roland said with pride. "Even his teammates looked up to him."

"Well, I'm afraid." Korra sighed. "I have this awful pit in my stomach and it makes me want to just curl up forever."

"I'm worried to." Roland confessed. "Not of dying, I've never really been afraid of death. I always was worried of not being up to the task, but now…" Roland looked at her. "I know you have to fight, because you are this world's Master Chief, but I don't want you to get injured or killed."

Korra smiled at her friend. "I'm not going to get hurt." She said confidently. "You'll be right next to me, just like the equalist with the knife."

Roland exhaled noisily "Yeah, I'm sorry you had to see that. Having Jonah back, I am starting to slip into the whole kill or be killed mode."

Korra contemplated her next words. "I didn't like seeing what happened to him, but I am privileged that you care enough to protect me so much."

"It's all in the territory." Roland responded.

Korra yawned. "I think we should probably try to get some sleep." She said as she laid her head back on his shoulder comfortably.

"Me too. Goodnight." Roland murmured as he rested his head on top of hers.

"Goodnight…" Korra sighed in a soft voice.

Morning came quickly and Team Avatar headed back through the sewer pipes. General Iroh was supposed to be arriving today, and the moved out to a pier over watching the bay. A thick fog had settled over the water, and Korra could barely make out the Air Temple Island.

"Coast is clear." Mako said as he looked across all of the water.

Asami looked at the statue of Avatar Aang. It had Amon's mask covering Aang's face, and equalist banners hanging from his staff. "I hate seeing that." Asami whimpered.

Korra agreed with a nod.

"It's alright, I'll burn it off myself when this is over." Mako said with clenched fists.

"Once the United Forces arrive, we need to be ready to help in any way we can." Korra said softly. Bolin had a telescope out and he was looking across the water. Jonah was watching the way they had come, and Roland had his helmet on again.

"I don't see anything on VISR." Roland's voice was slightly harsher than normal coming through the speakers.

Korra looked as well. "What the heck is VISR?" She asked.

Roland motioned for her to come over by him and she knelt down. He slid his helmet off and placed it over her head. "Ugh… stuffy." She muttered.

"Alright, there is a button forward of your chin. Stick your jaw out and you can hit it." Roland explained the process to Korra slowly.

She pushed her chin forward and heard a satisfying click. The screen in front of her came alive with red alert codes. Many of them flashed warnings about no connection to the armor or weapons systems. In the background of it all, she could still see Roland talking her through it, but the whole thing was very disorientating.

"Alright, disable the alert codes by looking at the orange light in the bottom left corner and blink three times quickly. Korra did so, and all of the warnings disappeared. She was left with nothing but a blue arrow pointing behind her, and a small circle in the bottom corner that was flashing, no connection.

"Alright, now what?" Korra asked from inside the helmet.

Roland took her hand in his. "Reach up and touch this button." He pressed her hand against a small slot on the right side of the helmet. Korra followed his instructions and suddenly, everything was painted in artificial color. Roland was outlined with green, and as she looked around, all of her friends were as well. The ground, the trash floating in the ocean, even the telescope Bolin held were all outlined in yellow.

"So, what is the point of this?" Korra asked as she looked around once more. She could make out the Avatar Aang Statue very well now, and could also make out the Air Temple Island, although it was not outlined in any color.

"It identifies threats, even in low light situations." Roland pointed out towards the water. "Look out there and see if the ships are coming yet."

Korra did so, and she could make out the lumbering hulks of several battleships cutting through the fog. They were outline with red, then yellow, then green, the flashing yellow with "unknown" written off to the side. "I see them! They're here!" Korra shouted.

She slid the helmet off and handed it back to Roland quickly. As soon as she did so, she lost sight of the ships through the fog. "She's right, they're headed straight for shore." Roland said calmly as he slid the helmet back into place.

"I can't see a thing!" Bolin mumbled.

Mako grabbed the spyglass from him and flipped it around so it was facing the correct way. "Here you dolt, it helps if you hold it the right way."

"Whoops." Bolin smiled before looking again. "Yeah, I see them now."

Korra stood up and looked into the foggy sky. "Wait a second... where are the Equalist airships?" she asked.

Mako snatched spyglass once more and ran to the far side of the pier. He scanned the shoreline with a questioning look. "I don't see any mecha tanks, either." He looked concerned.

"Wait, I see something in the water…" Roland called the group over. He zoomed in using his helmet, and just as the helmet determined that it was a water mine, one of the ships hit one, causing a massive explosion.

"I'm going to see if I can help!" Korra shouted as she took off. She water bent herself a ramp into the bay and used bending to push her way towards the ships.

"Dang it Korra." Roland muttered. "Don't get yourself killed."

A low droning sound could be heard in the back ground. "What now?" Mako asked as he scanned the skies. A second explosions resounded as the fog started to be burnt away by the sun, and the team could see the nearby sky scrapers. Roland's VISR was the first to pick up the two dozen bi planes heading for the fleet.

"It's aircraft." Roland hissed. He drew his pistol, but he knew he'd never be able to make those shots.

"Where does Hiroshi find the time to keep inventing new evil machines?" Bolin exclaimed.

Jonah coughed loudly. "I guess mentioning that to him wasn't my best idea."

"No, it wasn't." Asami sighed. "My father would never let go of an idea."

Planes swooped downward and dropped bombs and torpedoes into the ships. Explosions rocked the bay. Everyone saw the sailors firing back with fire and earth, but only a handful of the planes were knocked out.

"Jay, you seeing this?" Roland asked. A plane was flying directly towards them. The pilot was simple distancing himself for the antiaircraft fire before turning, but to Roland and Jonah, he looked as if he was on and intercept course.

Jonah jogged over and stood next to his fellow headhunter. The both raised their pistols when the plane was within one hundred yards of their position. At eighty yards, the two opened fire. It was not a sudden barrage like the others expected, but instead, dozens of well placed, well timed shots into the unarmored aircraft.

Roland fired several shots into the engine and cockpit as it flew forward and Jonah matched him shot for shot. The pilot never knew what hit him when the third shot struck him in the shoulder. He jerked the stick with his other hard, exposing the soft underbelly with the fuel tank and a second bomb.

At this point, the Spartans saw their chance. The both emptied their magazines into the aircraft, and one of their rounds struck home. The bullet clipped the fuse on the bomb, causing it to detonate inside of the aircraft. The fuel as ignited as it dispersed, enveloping the pilot's already shredded body before he could enter the ocean.

"Not too shabby." Roland said to his partner as he dropped his magazine. He looked at it and it was empty, however the slide had yet to lock back, which meant he had one shot still in the chamber. He sighed as he slid another magazine into place. _Seventeen rounds left to go._

"That doesn't look good." Bolin said as the flagship of the fleet was struck. The fireball looked like it swallowed the aircraft that had hit it as well.

Roland hoped Korra would make it out alive. He hated that there was nothing he could do to help right now. Holstering his pistol, he looked at his last magazine. It held only four bullets inside, and he might need those if he made it through today. Heck, they have bombs, they must be able to make bullets. He pulled the top bullet out and stashed it with his gear before putting the magazine back into his pocket.

"Look here comes Korra!" Mako shouted as a wake moved towards them. Korra lifted herself and an injured man out of the water and she rested on the pier.

The man had his arm burnt, but wore what seemed to be a high ranking officers uniform. He leaned on his side and coughed out some water. "Avatar Korra?" He asked, looking at her. "You saved my life. Thank you."

"You're welcome, General." She replied. They all looked out over the bay to see the ships retreating.

"We need to get back under ground." Jonah said as he scanned the area. "Without the fog for cover, we'll be spotted for sure."

Roland agreed and helped the wounded man to his feet. "What the heck are you wearing?" He asked, motioning to Roland's helmet.

"I'll explain later, sir." Roland led the man inside of the sewers, and the group made their way back to the Hobo Haven where they held a mini debriefing and Korra healed the General.

"My name is General Iroh, by the way." He said after Korra finished on his shoulder. He greeted and met each of the members of Team Avatar.

The group took a seat around Gommu's fire and listen to the General. "I was prepared to deal with Sato's mecha tanks, but not these new high-speed aircraft."

"I know." Korra sighed. She formed a ball of water and started to play with it idly. "Every time we think we have an advantage, Amon outsmarts us."

"No matter what our plan is, he always has a better one." Bolin huffed.

"Amon is winning so far, but we're not out of the fight yet." Iroh said as he stood to his feet. He clutched his wounded arm, but tried to walk around some.

Bolin pumped his fist into the air. "I like this man's confidence!" He cried before think for a moment. "So, how are we not out of the fight?"

"A second wave of reinforcements is on the way, and I need to warn them." He looked at Korra. "Do you still have a way to get a message out?"

"I know just the man for the job." She said with a smile.

It only took Roland and Gommu a few moments to set up a telegraph machine. They had tapped it into Roland's helmet for power, and Gommu sat ready to tap away. "And _who_ is the recipient of this top secret message?" He asked.

"Commander Bumi." Iroh said. "Second division of the United Forces." Gommu cracked his fingers and prepared to tap.

"Tenzin's brother?" Roland asked. He heard the name mention once or twice in his time at the island.

"Yes, bit of a wild man, but the bravest commander you'll ever meet." Iroh looked at Gommu.

"Ready sir." He said.

"Fleet ambushed and destroyed by Equalist aircraft." Gommu tapped away as Iroh narrated. "Retreat to Red Sand Island until my signal. Do not approach city until you receive the all clear."

Gommu placed a receiver to his ear. "Message received sir, they want to know your grandfathers name when he was a refugee for conformation."

Iroh smiled. "It was Lee."

"Very well sir, they are holding until notified."

Iroh nodded happily. "Good." He spread a map out in the dirt. "Now comes the hard part. We need to ground those aircrafts. Otherwise, Bumi's fleet will never be able to retake the city."

Roland squatted down and pointed. "They flew past these buildings, my guess is somewhere in the mountains."

Iroh scanned the map. "This is a likely spot." He pointed to a large plateau. "Everyone get ready, we leave at dawn."

The group separated to prepare, but Korra lingered by the map. "Wait, I'm sorry, but I'm not going with you tomorrow."

"What?" Bolin seemed confused.

Mako just looked at her. "Why not?"

Roland walked over and stood beside her. He had a feeling she was wanting to do something crazy. "I'm sick and tired of hiding from Amon. It's time I face him." She said decidedly.

"That's not a good plan." Iroh said calmly. "We need to stick together to fight him."

"I'm not waiting for him to hunt me down." Korra was almost angry now. "My gut's telling me it's time to end this- on _my_ terms."

"Korra, this is not a mission you should be handling on your own." Iroh cautioned her.

"She won't be." Roland said as he put his arm around her. "I'm going with you."

"You don't have to do that, but I knew you would." Korra smiled.

"Hmm... My grandfather would respect the Avatar's instinct." Iroh thought for a moment. "So will I."

"I may as well come to." Jonah huffed. "Ya already went and died once without me."

"No, I want you to… but we both know you can't. There are only two uniforms, because someone got blood all over the third one…"

"Oh yeah…" Jonah shrugged. "To bad. I woulda liked to kill some more folks."

It was not yet very late in the day, but the team decided to go ahead and bed down for the endgame that would come tomorrow.

That night, Korra had asked Roland if they could sleep the same way they had the night before. Resting on each other, Roland thought about life. "Korra… how do you get married in the water tribe?"

She was rather surprised by the question, but choose to answer. "Well, usually the guy goes to the girl's father to ask permission, then, he gives her a betrothal necklace, which shows that she is going to marry him. Then, the marriage could be as soon or far as when the couple decides." She glanced at him, and part of her hoped he was asking about this because she was from the water tribe.

"What is a betrothal necklace?" Roland inquired.

"It's a necklace that the man makes for his future wife." Korra thought of the necklaces she had seen. "It is usually made out of wood or some type of carve able material and is on some sort of binding that she can tie around her neck."

"So, that's it?" Roland looked around the area. He had started to feel slightly uncomfortable, even though he started the topic of conversation.

Korra just laid there on him. "Yeah, that's about it."

"I'll have to remember that." Roland said as he noticed a woman tossing trash out her window. This was definitely not the cleanest place in the world.

They sat there in silence for nearly an hour, just enjoying each other's presence, and neither of them thinking of what would come on the next day. Finally, Korra broke the silence. "What are you going to do to Amon if we get to him?" Korra asked quietly. Most of the others were already asleep and she didn't want to wake them.

"I'm going to kill him." Roland said flatly. "Well, maybe just injure him so you can find out who he even is, then kill him."

"Yeah, I figured as much with you." Korra said.

Roland yawned and leaned down to lay on his side, pulling Korra with him. "What are you doing?" She whispered.

"It's more comfortable to sleep like this." Roland whispered back as he placed his arm over her stomach and pulled her close to him. He noticed that Korra seemed to fit perfectly and he pulled a blanket over to suffice as a pillow. Her hair was soft and even after living in almost a sewer for two days, still smelled pleasant.

Korra didn't argue, with him, and instead she placed her hand on top of his and held it. She felt his strong arm laying across her and felt totally and completely safe for the time being. And so, two of the most powerful people in their worlds, the Avatar, Master of all four elements, and a Spartan, a man trained from birth to be the best warrior in existence, both drifted off into sleep.

**So, what do you think? I don't think it is to shocking for a pair of Spartans to down an aircraft with their pistols. I seriously considered having Jonah hijack it, but decided against it. Just for future reference, this story will not end when the series did. So far a little more than half of it has been uploaded. **

**Read and Review if you please! **


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 is up for you to read. As always, this is not my stuff. **

**Chapter Seventeen **

Korra and Roland stood wearing the equalist uniforms once more. Since it wouldn't blend in at all, Roland given all of his armor to Jonah so he could be better equipped. "Here, you better take this to." Roland said to his partner as he handed him a block of C12 plastic explosives.

"Thanks Rolle, you watch yerself, and that pretty girl to." Jonah smirked as he slid the helmet into place. He looked even more intimidating in a full set of armor. He had everything that Roland would have carried, save for his M6C and fighting knife stowed in his backpack now. The extra plates could possibly be used later and the weight was nothing the Spartan wasn't used to.

Bolin and Mako walked up and hugged Korra. "Korra, Amon is a nasty dude. Be careful." Bolin said with a note of concern in his voice. "I know Roland's gonna be there too, but still, be careful."

"I will. Good luck." Korra looked at Naga and then back at Bolin. "If you're going into the mountains, you should bring Naga."

"I can't do that!" Bolin stepped away as if he was being handed a crystal vase. "She is yours."

"Take good care of Bolin for me." Korra whispered to the massive Polar Bear Dog before she placed the reigns into Bolin's hand.

"Alright people, we've got a war to fight." General Iroh huffed as he tapped his foot impatiently.

Bolin snapped to attention. "Coming sir!"

Mako hugged Korra a second time. "Good luck." He paused for a moment to consider what to say next. "If worst's comes to worst, just fight like you did in the arena."

Korra was thankful to have friends who worried about her. "Thanks, you be careful to."

The two groups went their separate ways with a pleasant send off from the Hobo Haven. "Good fortune and success to you, valiant heroes." Gommu cried as they moved off.

Roland and Korra followed the drainage pipe out again. This was becoming a regular route for them over these last few days. They walked down the rocky shoreline and looked at the island. Over head, an equalist airship was tethered, and troops seemed to be covering it. "What's your plan to get there?" Roland asked.

Without replying, Korra walked into the water and started to waterbend an air bubble around her. Roland followed, and the two of them covered the half mile underwater trek to the Air Temple Island.

They cleared the water and ensured the uniforms were on properly before scaling the rocky cliffs and coming up near the gazebo that Tenzin usually meditated in. Korra looked up at the airship once more. A cable elevator was rising upwards, with Amon holding on. "There's Amon." She whispered.

Roland glanced upwards as well, just in time to see Amon step into the airship. The tether was cut loose and the ship started flying towards the city. "We need to get into the temple. Then, when he returns..."

"We ambush him." Korra finished Roland's sentence.

Roland looked around the courtyard, but it seemed to be empty. "Alright, let's try this." He seemed slightly hesitant because he hated disguises, but they had to go. The two of them stepped off and calmly walked across the courtyard.

They had made it a little over half way when a voice shouted from off to their left side. "What are you two doing out here? Amon wants extra security at the arena today."

Roland froze and looked at the man coming towards them. He seemed to be slightly higher up in the equalist command structure as his uniform had some sort of rank on the collar. "Just checking the grounds, sir." Roland lied. "What are we needed at the arena for?"

"For the rally, you should have been briefed on this." The man scrutinized them both. "This area has been secured for the last two days, who told you to check out here?"

Korra and Roland were frozen for an answer. "The Lieutenant did." Korra spit out after a moment's pause.

While farfetched, some type of answer was better than no answer, but the man didn't buy it. He looked around and saw another trooper coming their way. "You there!" He shouted to the man. "On me, quickly!"

The second man jogged over. "Yes sergeant?" He asked.

"I am going to detain these two." The Sergeant took out a bolo that was meant for hitting a moving target, but could work just as well to restrain someone. "I need you to cover me."

The second man shrugged. "Yes sergeant." He said as he sized the two up. It was just a male and a female equalist trooper. Nothing special about either of them, but he followed his orders.

"Please place your hands behind your backs." The sergeant asked as he closed on the two of them.

"You go far…" Roland whispered to Korra as his hand touched his knife. "Yes Sergeant."

As the sergeant stepped within arm's reach he reached out to tie Roland up. As he did so, Roland drew the knife with his right hand, simultaneously grabbing the sergeants face with his left. With a vicious stab, Roland thrust the knife into the man's neck before pulling it back towards himself. This sliced every major blood vessel in the neck along with the jugular. The sergeant tried to scream for help, but had no voice to use.

Korra had earthbent a stone block at the other man, which impacted him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Neither knew what hit them.

Roland looked around quickly. "I need a grave." He ordered as he stabbed the knife into the back of the man's head to finish him off. Korra earthbent a grave large enough for both men and Roland tossed the sergeant inside.

"I'll hide the blood." Korra said as she started to earthbend dust onto it. Roland nodded and ran forward to collect the other man. He had only been knocked unconscious, but Roland's brutal stomp to his throat snapped his neck, killing him.

With both bodies hidden, Korra and Roland continued into the air temple as if nothing had happened. After walking through the dining area, Korra suggested "Let's hide in the attic." and quickly led the way.

The hatchway was unlocked, and both of them got up there unnoticed. Roland surveyed their new environment. "Uh, we're not alone up here." He said to Korra.

The room was empty save for a wall of bars sectioning off about a third of it. Light entered from a small window, and it was nothing but wood paneling. Sitting inside the cell in a corner was the shape of a man. Korra walked up to the bars and looked in. "Tarrlok?" She was taken aback that he was here. She slid off her mask so he could see her.

"I don't suppose you're here to rescue me." Tarrlok sighed.

"We had no idea you were here. Are there other prisoners on the island?" Korra asked, genuinely concerned that there could be others.

Tarrlok sat back against the wall. He was a mess, and smelled slightly, probably from not being able to bathe for the last several days. "No, I'm the only one."

Roland slid his mask off now. "And what makes you so special?"

"I'm Amon's brother." Korra gasped, but Roland didn't seem terribly surprised. "Amon is from the Northern Water Tribe. He's a waterbender and a bloodbender, just like I was."

Korra grabbed onto the bars of his cell. "What? Did you know this all along?" she asked.

"No, not until after he captured me." Tarrlok looked at the Spartan. "You don't seem very surprised."

Roland shrugged his shoulders. "I had my suspicions first that you were Amon, especially with the whole kidnap that Avatar deal, and the blood bending sealed it." Roland scratched the side of his head in mock thought. "But then, this whole thing happens where he takes your bending away. That threw me off for a while, but I had to keep coming back to you, or possibly a family member, these things run in the genes, don't they?"

"Yes, that is why even with his bending removed, Yakone was still able to teach us both to blood bend."

Korra finally cut to the question that was killing her. "How did your brother end up becoming Amon?"

Tarrlok relaxed and started his life story. "It all began with my father, Yakone. With the help of his former gang, he escaped prison and underwent surgery to change his appearance. He assumed a new identity, and settled down in the Northern Water Tribe. That's where he met, my mother, a warm, caring woman." Tarrlok paused and thought of his mother. "Before long, they started a family together. Amon was the firstborn, under the name Noatak. I was born three years later. Noatak was a good-natured kid, always looking out for me. Those were the good years, before my brother and I discovered we were waterbenders." Tarrlok made it sound as if the gift of bending was dreadful. "At first we were excited by our new abilities, but our training brought out a different side of my father. Even back then, my brother wanted everyone to be treated fairly and equally. When I was seven, my father took me and Noatak on a hunting trip far away from our home. He told us his true identity was Yakone, Republic City's most notorious crime boss, and that he was once a bloodbender of rare skill."

"So he took you away from home and trained you in secret?" Korra asked. "Why didn't you just tell someone?"

Tarrlok thought for a moment. "I suppose I wanted my father's approval, even though I knew this was wrong. A few years later, my father taught us to bloodbend anytime, without the need of the full moon. We practiced constantly, and I hated every minute of it. I had no stomach for manipulating helpless animals. My brother, however, seemed to revel in this newfound power. He was a prodigy, mastering my father's psychic bloodbending technique by the time he was fourteen. Even though Noatak was my father's favorite, it wasn't any easier for him. He carried the burden of all Yakone's expectations and demands. Something changed in Noatak over the years; the loving brother I once knew became cold and detached. Our father pushed us to extremes, and one day, he made us bloodbend each other."

Korra was shocked that anyone could be so cruel to their own children. "Noatak bloodbent me, as he was told to, but when it was my turn, I refused. My father attacked me out of rage, but Noatak stopped him with bloodbending. He offered to have us both run away together, but I refused, because I was unable to leave my mother. My father and I searched for days, but we never found a sign of Noatak. We thought he perished in that storm. My mother was never the same after the loss of my brother. My father stopped training me. With Noatak gone, his hopes for revenge withered. And he passed away, a few years later."

"That's- one of the saddest stories I've ever heard." Korra whispered sadly. Roland however, was still impassive. He had seen worse happen to younger kids, and they turned out, not only better, but as the best. He was living proof of that.

"Avatar Korra. I am truly sorry for all that I did to you. I thought I was better than my father, but his ghost still shaped me." Tarrlok stood and grasped the bars and looked into Korra's eyes. "I became a soldier of revenge, just like he wanted me to be. And so did my brother. The revolution may be built on a lie, but I think Amon truly thinks bending is the source of all evil in the world."

"You do realize that you nearly killed her." Roland stepped forward now. "Not only that, but several of the things you said, not only wear words of a mad man, but were flat out insane."

"I am sorry for the lies I told to you, Roland." Tarrlok seemed remorseful, but Roland wanted none of it.

"No, you're not sorry. You're sorry your bending was taken away by your own brother and that you're locked away like an animal, but no, you aren't remorseful for what you've done." Roland drew his pistol. "You'd probably be out there just like you were, controlling people's lives like a politician and a mad man. Bribing whoever you could, and eliminating those who stood in your way." Roland leveled the pistol on Tarrlok's head, and for the first time in months, he clicked on the laser sight just for the heck of it.

"Roland, wait." Korra gently pushed the barrel down. "How did you figure out Amon is your brother?"

"When he took my bending, the sensation was somehow familiar." Tarrlok shivered from the thought. "I later recognized it as my brother's bloodbending grip."

"How in the world do we beat him?" Korra asked, desperately.

"We can't, at least not in a traditional sense." Roland elaborated. "Any attack we throw at him, he'll redirect with his mind. That's how he's been able to challenge any bender."

"So much for our ambush. If we stay here, we're toast." Korra racked her mind to come up with something.

"So, we use knowledge." Roland suggested.

"Yes! This whole time, Amon has been one step ahead of us." Korra slammed her fist into her palm. "But finally _we_ have the advantage. We know the truth about him. If we expose him as a bender in front of all his supporters..."

"At the rally." Roland looked out the window to guess what time it was.

"...we could take away his true power!" Korra was quite pleased with herself.

Roland walked back towards the bars. "I like it, we undermine his whole revolution… just with a few words, however, that means I can't kill him until after he has been exposed."

"Otherwise, the revolution will just continue." Korra realized.

Roland sighed with frustration. "It's got too much steam already. Unless we can expose Amon, it won't stop."

"Thank you, for your help." Korra said to Tarrlok. "We can't just leave him here." She looked at the bars, and then at Roland.

"Oh, yes we can. Did you forget already what he did to you?" Roland glared at Tarrlok once more. "Heck, if it wasn't for Amon, Korra, you might not even be here right now," he pointed his barrel in Tarrlok's direction. "and you sure as heck wouldn't still be breathing." Roland's voice was menacing, even without any type of helmet enhancements.

"Avatar, go. Amon can't know anyone spoke with me. Defeat him. Put an end to this sad story." Tarrlok slumped back against the wall.

"I will."" Korra sound confidently as she descended the ladder from the attic.

"And then, I'll be back for you." Roland said threateningly "I seem to remember some talk of how you planned to have me embowel her, giving her only the ability to scream as you used me as a puppet." Tarrlok cringed at the thought. "Councilman," Roland used the name as an insult, instead of a title. "you are going to learn the meaning behind the phrase, not better friend, no worse enemy."

"I don't fear you, Spartan." Tarrlok glared at him. "My brother has monsters far worse than you."

With that, Roland climbed down the ladder and the two of them headed towards the arena as fast as possible. The day was still young, and to Roland, it felt like a good day for someone else to die.

**What do you think? Would Tarrlok actually be remorseful? Is Amon really the true enemy? Should Roland have killed Tarrlok then? **

**Read, Review, and tell me what you think.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Sorry for being a day late with the update. This is still not mine. **

**Chapter Eighteen**

Jonah had scouted up ahead of the group slightly, but returned after a few moments. They had been trekking into the mountains all morning, but finally had reached the spot that was most likely for an airstrip. "I think we've found our secret airfield." Jonah whispered as he summoned the others to a vantage point.

Six runways branched out of one central hanger area, and a dozen aircraft seemed to be preparing to take off. Behind them, dozens more were being loaded by support personnel. Jonah saw bombs and torpedoes being placed onto carts and shuttled out to the tarmac. "Why are they loading up?" Mako wondered aloud.

"Sir, do ya think they could have over heard yer transmission bout the fleet?" Jonah whispered to General Iroh.

"It is always a possibility." Iroh glanced about and quickly came up with a plan. "Bolin, once we get down there, I need you to tear up those runways. We can't let those aircraft take off."

"Aye Captain!" Bolin whispered loudly before realizing his mistake. "I mean General…"

Iroh ignored the mistake. "Mako, you will be with me. We are going to destroy those parked aircraft." Mako nodded silently. "Jonah, I want you and Asami to try to find a way to destroy their radios. We can't have them calling for help."

"Roger that, sir." Jonah said.

"Alright, meet back here after the attack. Let's go." Bolin mounted Naga so he could quickly dart out into the runway and start tearing it up.

As the group approached, they noticed several fence posts surrounding the airfield. "Why would there be fence posts, but no fence?" Asami wondered.

Mako shrugged. "Maybe they're not done with it yet." He was about to step between the bars when Jonah halted him.

"Wait!" He hissed. "My helmet's pickin up a major enrgy spike from this. It's probably electrified."

Mako took a step away from the fence cautiously. Iroh stood there in thought. "If it is electrified, it is probably hooked up to an alarm as well. Any ideas?"

Jonah looked around and noticed that they were only a few hundred feet from the airstrip. "We're not fer off, Bolin, can't ya just bust it down?"

General Iroh nodded his approval and Bolin grinned. "I think I can manage that." He cracked his knuckles and prepared to bend. "Everyone ready?"

Iroh looked at the rag tag group. They all had their assignments, and so this was it. "Do it." He said calmly.

Without hesitation, Bolin smashed the fence post apart and they all charged through. Bolin was the first to be seen as he rode out onto the runway atop Naga. He quickly started to rip the airfield apart using his earth bending.

Two aircraft were already moving forward to lift off. Bolin wrecked the last runway and turned towards them. Both pilots gunned their engines and decided to go for it. The lead aircraft's tires left the ground just before where the runway was turned to rubble. Bolin launched a cinderblock sized rock at the left side of the propeller.

The flying rock missed slightly, but instead hit the nose of the plan and smashed in the side of the engine. The momentum of the aircraft was shifted just enough to the right to smash it into one of the rocks that was jutting out from the runway. To Bolin's disappointment, there was not a massive explosion; instead, the aircraft simply was ripped apart by the impact.

The second aircraft tried to avoid the tail of the first, but his right wing tip caught and caused the lower right wing to be torn away. The pilot tried to maintain control, but his wheels were still on the ground. Milliseconds after the wing was ripped away, he started to roll over the torn up runway. The uneven ground and offset weight of his aircraft caused him to list to the side and crash a dozen or so yards from the first aircraft.

"WHOOO!" Bolin cried as he punched his fist into the air. "That's how it's done!" An explosion rocked the area from behind him and he turned to see blasts of fire coming from the parked aircraft.

Mako and Iroh had darted towards the hanger area as Bolin and Naga had gone after the runway. Many of the pilots and ground crew men were too busy watching Bolin destroy the runways to notice the two fire benders slip into their midst. Mako had fired a blast of lightning into one of the bomb carts, causing an explosion that shredded the nearby aircraft and killed many of the ground crew.

Iroh focused on the other aircraft that were taxiing forward to take off. Bolin had managed to destroy two of them, but five more that had not been destroyed by the explosion were lined up ready to try. Iroh fired a double blast of fire into the second aircraft. The fuel tank detonated, sending flaming gasoline onto the first and third airplanes. Iroh ignored the screams coming from the dying pilots as they tried to bail out, and instead focused his attention on the other two aircraft.

One of the pilots threw a gas grenade in Iroh's direction, but a blast of super heated blue fire vaporized not only the gas, but the grenade canister as well. Iroh fired a massive blast of fire from a swinging kick into the last aircraft in the line, and then drew back and aimed at the fourth plane. The pilot was franticly trying to undo his harness. Iroh breathed deeply and felt his chi align so that he could send a blast of lightning to vaporize the plane. The pilot finally managed to undo his harness and he stood to jump from the parked plane. As he did so, Iroh released the lighting, which impacted the plane near the engine. The pilot was fried first by the lightning, and then by the explosion of the gas tank detonation on his aircraft as well.

Mako was busy destroying the parked aircraft. A simple blast of fire was all it took to ignite the plane shortly afterwards, it would detonate from the fuel tank. He ran along the hanger bay, firing into each aircraft as he went. He had nearly destroyed all of the aircraft when a truck sped towards him full of equalist troopers. He breathed in and prepared to fire at the oncoming vehicle, but suddenly two holes appeared on the windshield and blood splattered all over inside of the cab. The truck careened out of control and into one of the flaming aircraft. The equalist troopers screamed in horror as the gasoline soaked into their clothes and lit them ablaze. They stumbled around trying to put out the flames, but to no avail. Mako looked over his shoulder to see Jonah's armor disappear around a corner.

Jonah and Asami had pushed into the supply area where several building were located. After dropping the truck, Jonah led them into what looked like the control building because of the multiple radio antennas on the roof. He motioned for Asami to stay low and quiet as the two of them moved ahead.

He opened the doorway cautiously and activated Roland's camouflage unit. A guard was watching the carnage out the window and didn't notice the extra light from the open door. Jonah was able to simply walk up behind him and cut his throat. He stooped down and whispered for Asami to follow him. He neared a door way that opened into a large room and heard several voices inside.

"What is going on!" Sato shouted from inside the control room. People were all around him trying to get on radios and call for help or to attempt to control the chaos.

"Sir, the truck carrying reinforcements was destroyed. The nearest zeppelin is five minutes out making best speed our way."

A female operator spoke up next. "We have fires in nearly every hanger bay. It seems that a fire bender is destroying the aircraft. There are only two left, and after those, the fleet will have been destroyed."

Sato clenched his fist. "I know who that is." He hissed. "You two!" He pointed to his guards. "Come with me!"

Jonah peeked around the wall and saw Sato leaving by the back exit. That left thirteen people in the room. With his camouflage activated, he was able to note where each person was without being seen. "What are your orders ma'am?" an equalist said to the most senior person in the room.

She looked frazzled by Sato's departure. "Set up defenses and try to get that airship here faster!"

"Alright, here's the plan." Jonah whispered to Asami as he crouched down. "I need ya to go fer that officer, restrain her, but keep her conscious." Asami nodded silently. "Try to get them two men near her as well. I'll cover ya as ya move." Jonah readied his M6C. "Keep yer head down. In three, two, one, GO!"

Jonah rolled around the corner as he shouted for Asami to go. The active camouflage deactivated, but he had rolled into the shadows where hopefully people wouldn't notice him as quickly. His heightened reflexes and adrenaline created a slow motion effect in his mind, allowing him to engage a target before Asami had even taken her first step. He raised the pistol and noted the front sight as it covered the closest man's head. Jonah made a short, controlled trigger pull and felt the pistol recoil in his hands. The man's head cracked open from the hollow point bullet entering and then exiting.

Asami had now cleared the corner when Jonah lined up his second shot. The man sitting behind the radio felt the blood of his partner splatter over his neck. As he turned, a slug entered just below his jaw, severing his spinal cord. Asami had taken two steps.

Jonah stood to his feet and aligned his third target. The weapon recoiled as he dropped the man reaching for an alarm switch. A woman noticed the carnage and started to run for the exit. Jonah fired two shots into her back, causing her to stumble forward and die. Asami was crossing the room as Jonah sighted in on a pair of equalist troopers who were bringing out their shock gloves. A pair of headshots and both of their bodies fell to the floor.

Asami rolled over a consol station as three more of Jonah's bullets impacted the trio of guards by the rear exit. As she closed on the second in command, Asami tapped her own glove so that it started to power up. She noticed a man next to her start to spin a bolo in an attempt to restrain her, but the whisp of Jonah's pistol resounded again, and the man dropped from a gaping chest injury.

Asami smashed the glove into the man who was standing to the left of the officer. He convulsed as electricity coursed through his body. As he toppled to the ground, Asami noticed the other guard reaching towards her with his own glove. She knew she wouldn't be able to turn in time and prepared herself for the shock. Just then she heard a thump and the sound of glass breaking. Blood had splattered everywhere and the man was now without a head. Asami ignored the gore and grabbed onto the officer. "I got her!" She shouted.

Jonah stepped forward out of the shadows. He dropped the empty magazine and slid a fresh one onto its place. He grabbed the slide and chambered the first bullet as he approached Asami and the officer. His helmet boomed from the speakers. "Yer gonna radio back and call off that airship for me." He said menacingly.

"And if I don't?" The officer said rebelliously.

Jonah glanced at the man Asami had shocked into unconsciousness. He lifted his boot and smashed it into the man's neck with a sickening crack. "Ya won't be unconscious." He hissed.

The officer complied and Jonah sat her in front of the radio. "Airship two one, we have control here." The officer said calmly. As Jonah pressed the pistol into the base of her neck.

"Roger airbase." The voice came back. "You still want us up there?"

"Make it convincin." Jonah ordered.

"Negative, we have it under control. Just some local rebels trying to mess around. We have them policed up." The woman was playing this off quite well.

"Roger airbase, airship two one descending to the city." The man signed out.

"Do you think they bought it?" Asami asked.

Jonah shrugged. "I hope so, but we don't need to stick around and find out."

The woman sat motionless in her seat. "What about me?" She asked.

Jonah reached past her and smashed the radio to bits. "Ya did well." He said calmly. "Sorry bout this though." Jonah grabbed her chin, and simply broke her neck. The limp body slid from the chair and he surveyed the room. "Looks like were clear." He said.

Asami was now starting to take in the carnage and was shocked at his cold blooded killing. "What did you do that for?" She whispered pitifully. Dead bodies were scattered across the room and blood was everywhere. The sharp smell of cordite lingered from the discharged bullets, and the stench of blood wafted up from the bodies. Not only that, but urine and fecal matter could also be smelled, as some bodies relieved themselves as they died.

Jonah shrugged casually. "Can't take her prisoner, didn't want her calling the airship back. It was painless at least." He looked at the rich girl. "Let's go help the others." He whispered and shortly after, the two of them strolled back out into the day light. Unfortunately, it wasn't much better out there. Burning flesh mixed with fuel was the odor outside, and explosions still rocked the area.

They two of them could see Mako in a pitched battle with Sato and two equalist guards near the farthest hanger. Iroh and Bolin were nowhere to be seen, and Mako was trying to hold his own. As the two chi blocker trained men rushed him, he managed to cook one as the other numbed his side. "GAH!" Mako cried as the equalist hit him again. He managed to fire with his good hand and fry the equalist face, killing him instantly, but he didn't see Sato coming up on his bad side.

"My own daughter." Sato hissed as he placed a knife to Mako's neck. "And a bender. Never." Sato prepared to slit Mako's throat when Jonah's bullet impact in his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. However, as he fell, Sato managed to cut Mako's numb arm down to the bone.

Sato jumped to his feet clutching his hurt arm as Jonah ran towards them. He took aim, but Sato disappeared into the thick black smoke that was starting to cover the entire area. Jonah heard and engine rev and a motorbike drive off into the distance.

Mako was trying to stand up when Jonah reached him. "It's just a scratch." Mako tried to play it off.

Jonah checked his area quickly before crouching down next to the young man. He pulled his first aid kit off his armor and dumped some antiseptic into the wound. Mako hissed in pain. "I think he cut yer tendon." Jonas said as he wrapped the injury with a bandage. "We need to get ya to a professional."

Asami caught up and wrapped Mako in a hug. "I am so sorry for what my father did!" She cried.

Mako shrugged his good arm. "I'll be fine. We should get out of here though."

The three of them darted towards the trees and with Jonah helping Mako, they all made it back to their starting point. Bolin, Naga, and Iroh were waiting.

"Bro! What happen?" Bolin asked as he ran up to his brother.

Mako was starting to look even more pale than usual. "I'm fine." He whispered.

"Sir, I think he needs a doc badly." Jonah explained to Iroh.

Iroh nodded. "Bolin, take your brother back to town on Naga. Find him a healer, and meet us back in the Hobo Haven." Bolin nodded as he climbed onto Naga.

Jonah assisted Mako in getting aboard as well. "You go get yerself fixed up." Jonah said to him. "I'll keep an eye on Asami fer ya."

Mako nodded his thanks as Bolin cracked the reigns and Naga took off down the mountain side. The airstrip was destroyed, but the equalist force still had plenty of weapons to use.

**Well, what did you think? Sato will be back in a later chapter. Will Mako be alright, or is the injury gonna inhibit his bending? Read and review!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 is up. This is not my property. **

**Chapter Nineteen **

Korra and Roland made their way back across the bay and towards the Arena. Crowds were already gathering inside, and thankfully, Korra had been shown a back way in by Bolin. She and Roland slipped inside through a service entrance that had a broken lock and moved through the corridors.

Roland followed Korra once they were inside. After a few twists and turns, Korra knelt and looked back at him. "Where to?" She asked.

Roland glanced at their equalist uniforms. "To the radio booth." He whispered back. "We'll have a perfect vantage point from there."

Korra nodded and stood up straight. Roland walked along side her and they effortlessly merged into a crowd. No one paid them any attention as their masks covered their faces entirely. They entered the Arena to see it covered with equalist propaganda. At one end where the contestants would usually start from, a huge banner of Amon's mask was hung. All around, people were taking seats and waiting for the glorious occasion.

Roland pushed through the crowd that led to the radio booth. He waited until Korra was next to him outside the door before he whispered "No bending." She nodded in reply and he slowly opened the door. Two equalists sat behind the microphones overlooking the entire area. Neither of them wore a mask, but they were still in uniform.

"It's hard to believe we did it." One said to the other. Roland motioned for Korra to take the man on the left. She started to move towards him, and wrapped his neck in a rear naked choke as Roland broke the other mans neck with ease.

The second man struggled at Korra's grip, but with in second, he was unconscious on the ground. Roland smashed the man's neck to kill him, then pulled the bodies and stashed them under the tables that held the radios. He used a few boxes to break up the outline as best as he could before taking a seat.

He slid his mask off and set it next to the micropohone. Korra started to take hers off as well. "Don't." Roland said. "They'll recognize you in an instant."

"Oh yeah…" Korra said as she pulled the mask back over her face.

They sat in silence waiting for the event to begin. Roland located the microphone that accessed the stadiums speakers and prepared it for use. As they waited, he looked over his weapons. The disguise didn't allow him to carry anything but his M6C, knife, and the sixteen bullets he had left. He dropped the magazines, and set them with ten in one, five in the backup, and one in the chamber.

Something felt wrong to Roland, and just then, the door swung open to reveal an equalist carrying what looked to be lunch for the others. "Guys?" He mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Roland was already shoving the chair aside. As he lunged towards the man, he grabbed his pistol and smashed it into his skull. The man stumbled slightly, but didn't go down all the way. He tried to call for help, but his food lodged in his throat and started to choke him. Roland brought the pistol back and smashed it into the man's head once more, causing a small amount of blood to begin to bleed out as the man was finally killed. Roland slid the body over with the others and set the chair back up casually.

He glanced at Korra and saw the corners of her mask move slightly, hinting that she was grinning. "Nice." She said. Only then did Roland notice she had bent water out of the air and into an ice spike for killing him if needed.

Roland wagged his finger at her playfully as she stooped over to pick up the food. "Ah ah… no bending."

Korra shrugged and took a half full carton of noodles from him. She hadn't eaten all day, and wasn't quite as used to the lack of food as Roland was. She slid her mask up enough to expose her mouth and gulped down the noodles nosily.

Roland grimaced mockingly. "That was delightful…" He said sarcastically before he started to eat a roll in a slightly more civilized manner.

"Thorry" Korra said as she chewed the last bite of food. After finishing, she slid the mask back into place and waited silently.

After a few minutes, the lights were dimmed and a small bridge was pushed out into the center of the arena. A hush fell over the crowd, and from under the massive poster, Amon walked out.

The crowd of equalists cheered for him as he crossed the bridge and approached the microphone that dangled from the ceiling. Two of his men accompanied him. One was an equalist trooper who had been injured by a bender, and the other was Amon's most trusted lieutenant. "Thank you all for joining me on this historic occasion!" The crowd cheered again and it took a moment for Amon to hush them. "When I was a boy, a firebender struck down my entire family and left me scarred. That, tragic event began my quest to equalize the world."

Korra ripped off her mask, grabbed the microphone, and climbed on top of the radio booth where she could be seen by all. "That's a lie, Amon!" She cried. "Or should I call you Noatak?"

"It's the Avatar!" Some shouted from the crowd. People started booing and jeering her.

Over the crowd, Amon's lieutenant could be heard in the microphone asking. "You want her taken out?"

"No. Everyone calm down," Amon raised his hands to silence the crowd. "we have nothing to fear from the Avatar. Let's hear what she has to say."

"Amon has been lying to you. The spirits didn't give him the power to take bending away. He uses bloodbending to do it." She pointed a finger at him. "Amon is a waterbender!"

"Sir?" The lieutenant asked. "What is this nonsense?"

Amon chuckled. "You're desperate, Avatar." He turned to face the crowd on the other side of the arena. "Making up stories about me is a pathetic last resort." Again the crowd booed the Avatar.

"Your family wasn't killed by a firebender." Korra shouted accusingly. "His father was Yakone, and his brother... is Councilman Tarrlok." The crowd gasped.

"That can't be true?" The lieutenant whispered.

Amon thought for a moment. "An amusing tale, but I will show you the truth." He pulled away his hood and removed his mask with care. "_This_ is what a firebender did to me." His face was scared badly. Not just a small part of it, but the entire front of his face was one long scar. It was a pretty nasty sight, even from the distance they were at.

Korra was shocked at the reveal. "What?" She looked at Roland down below her. He drew his pistol and shrugged.

Shouts of "The Avatar is lying!" and "Down with benders!" Resounded through the crowd. Equalist troops moved towards the radio booth.

"I'm telling you! He's a waterbender." Korra jumped back into the booth. "They don't believe me. It didn't work!" She sounded defeated.

"We said what we had to." Roland glanced at the three bodies under the table. "Now let's get out of here."

She nodded and took a bending stance as they opened the door. A blast of fire fried the first two equalists who were attempting to disable them. The crowd near the booth fled from the Avatar's bending. Roland stepped past her and fired three shots into three more equalists that approached them. Each shot hit the equalist center mass, and dropped them like sacks of bricks.

"Even now, the Avatar can do nothing but cause death and destruction!" Amon shouted through the microphone. He had replaced his mask and watched as Korra and Roland tried to fight their way down the rows of seats. Amon whispered something to the lieutenant and then continued to watch as Roland fired into his men.

"Are you sure, sir?" The officer looked slightly shaken.

"Go!" Amon hissed.

Korra threw up an earthen wall as several electrified bolo's were thrown their way. She then sent chunks of the wall flying at the attackers.

Roland pushed ahead and made it to the walkway that surrounded the center arena. On his left, was a thirty foot drop into the water that surrounded the arena. He pushed ahead towards the exit with Korra right behind him. He drew a bead on an equalist in the rafters over head who was taking aim with a crossbow. The shot sent the man into the water which caused arcs of blue electricity to jump around.

"Amon electrified the water!" Korra shouted as the two of them neared an exit.

"It's done, sir." The lieutenant said to Amon as he walked back across the bridge.

Just as Korra and Roland seemed as if they would break free, the doors they were approaching were flung open. Korra could not believe her eyes. Three monsters, each seven feet tall and rippling with muscle stared at her with piercing yellow eyes. They were a purplish grey, and almost looked naked. "Roland!" She yelled as she launched a brick into the first one. The creature caught it and cast it aside. He roared, splitting his mouth into four mandibles and rushing forward.

Roland looked at the advancing beasts. _So that's where the Elites went. _He thought. His sights settled on the first Elite, and the bullet dropped him easily. "Where's you armor!" Roland laughed as he shot the other two with ease. A low thump made his gut flutter. "Back up, Korra." He said simply. Korra kicked her foot and created an earth bridge across to the battleground where Amon, the injured equalist, and the lieutenant stood waiting. Roland sprinted across and Korra followed shortly behind.

As soon as they crossed, a ten foot tall armored hulk entered through the doorway. "My brethren!" Amon shouted to the fleeing people. "The fight many have desired has now come to pass. I have been given a gift from the Spirits of monsters none have ever known. Your greatest opponent shall soon be _equalized." _ He released the microphone and prepared to face the Avatar.

Roland raised his pistol. "No!" Korra shouted. She knew that without exposing Amon, the equalist movement would never be quelled. However, Roland did not hesitate as his sights aligned over Amon's chest. He squeezed and the weapon did as it always did. As his sights realigned from the recoil, he saw Amon falling to the ground and he fired another shot into the mad man's chest.

He heard Korra shouting at him in the back ground as he aimed at the lieutenant and fired one shot at him. He then trained his sights on the wounded equalist, but while a single bullet to the head would have ended the woman's life, she fell to the fetal postion. The crowd was shock into silence as Roland stood staring at the kills he had made.

The armored Elite smashed into the floor when it jumped across to fight. Roland only had time to glance at it before he was dodging plasma fire. The Elite's armor had been significantly bulked up, especially around the head and joints. All of the armor had been polished to a shine and two plasma rifles where attached to the Elite's arm.

After seeing him roll out of the way, the Elite stopped firing. His voice was husky and deep as he spoke. "You're time has come, human. I recognize your stench… decapitation would have suited you better when we first met."

Korra slowly started to draw together some water from below. Roland didn't really care where the other two Elites from the unit were. He didn't care how they got here, or why they were with Amon. All he knew was the threat needed to be neutralized.

The Elite leveled his weapons on Roland once more. "Hey, pretty boy." Korra shouted. As the Elite swung to face her, firing as he turned. Korra threw up an ice shield, but the plasma cut right through it.

"Give up Avatar!" A voice shouted from the crowd. "You cannot stop him!" The Elite took two steps forward and smashed into the ice shield, causing it the shatter. A shard flew in the direction of the cowering woman, killing her quietly. Korra melted and then refroze the water to attempt to immobilize the Elite.

"Your fighting is futile, human." It hissed as the ice was again smashed. Korra sent a blast of fire into the beast, but it didn't slow it down. Through the flames, the armored hand grabbed Korra by the leg and lifted her up. "Soon, this world to will fall to the might of the gods!" It shouted. The Elite prepared to smash Korra into the floor when suddenly it was smashed off balance slightly.

Roland crouched just in front of it after taking a running start and through every bit of strength into hitting it. "I thought we had a date?" Roland smirked. The Elite thrashed out to try to crush the Spartan, but he easily dodged. "Korra, the water!" Roland shouted.

Hanging upside down, Korra formed a thin sheet of ice under the Elite's feet. As it slid slightly, she blasted two fireballs into it from point blank. Some of the fire must have found a seam in the armor because the Elite roared with pain and tried to cast Korra aside. She rolled on mpact ad smashed a wave of water into it. The Elite was knocked off balance, and Korra followed up with a pair of earth disks, knocking the Elite into the water. The electric current entered the beasts body, causing it to go rigid before the heart was stopped.

"So much for a difficult fight." Roland mumbled as he approached the dead figure of Amon. Roland kept his pistol trained on the man's head as he reached down to check for a pulse. Suddenly, he felt his body go rigid as Amon spun his leg out and kicked Roland off balance. Roland couldn't move for a moment, but then the sensation disappeared.

"What the heck?" Roland shouted. His right hand flung his pistol out of his grasp and over to the other side of the arena.

Amon cackled. "I am invincible!" As he motioned for Korra and Roland to come at him. Korra sent a blast of fire at the maniac as Roland rushed forward to tackle him.

Amon brushed Roland aside and into Korra's blast of fire. "See!" He shouted to the crowd. "Benders will even attack their non bending allies in the end."

Korra noticed that the supplies were still available from the battle fought by benders on this arena. She relentlessly sent a barrage of earth disks, icicle darts, and blasts of fire towards Amon.

Amon ducked and dodged almost every attack the Avatar managed to throw at him. Roland recovered from the friendly fire and grabbed Amon in a bear hug. He squeezed, but instead of feeling bones shatter, he felt metal plates. "You.." Roland froze as Amon bloodbent him once more. Again, it was only for an instant, and the crowd didn't notice. They cheered when their leader again broke free of Roland's attack. Amon knocked Roland unconscious and Korra was on her own.

Korra fires several more disks at Amon, but he dodges them and gets ever closer. She tried to kick with a blast of fire, but Amon slid under and inside of her fighting stance. She tried to do one of the moves Roland had taught her, but Amon bloodbent her into submission. He reached down to grab Korra by the chin. "I told you I would destroy you." Amon hissed as he placed his other hand on her forehead and removed her bending. Korra was powerless under his bloodbending grasp and she fell to the ground as every bender had done before her.

"No." She cried in a desperate attempt to send a blast of fire at Amon, but to no avail.

Amon stood over her. "Finally, you are powerless." He laughed as he reached for the microphone. "The Avatar is defeated!" Amon cried and the crowd broke into cheers of praise.

Amon raised his hands in victory and took in the praise. No one noticed Roland stirring off to the side. When Amon blood bent the Spartan, he should have held his grip for a microsecond more, which would have left the Spartan unconscious for much longer. He stirred and noticed that his pistol was only a few feet away. He then noticed Korra's body laying on the ground. She was shaking with tears, believing Roland to be dead and her bending removed.

All Roland noticed was she was on the ground. His mind did take into account that to cry, you had to be alive. He assumed the worst and shouted for her as he rolled for his M6C. "Korra!"

Amon turned at the sound of the voice. He saw the Spartan aligning his sights and knew he could not bloodbend him in front of the crowd. Roland fired and time seemed to slow as the slide recoiled.

He had aimed at Amon's mask, it was a long shot, but he hoped to hit in a weakened point or even the eye holes. The bullet shattered on the mask just above Amon's eye. Blood started to flow immediately from, the head wound and Amon screamed in rage.

Korra rolled over to see Amon ripe the mask away and charge towards Roland. The Spartan rolled out of the way and stood to face Amon. Blood was filling the equalist leaders eyes and he tried to wipe it away, but only succeeded to spread it to both. Roland charged forward, saving his last pistol round for if he needed it later. He smashed his fist into Amon's gut, sending him to his knees, but causing Roland's hand to ache from the metal armor.

"What's a matter?" Roland asked. "Hurts when they can fight back, don't it?"

"BAH!" Amon screamed and bloodbent his own blood away from his eyes and face. As he did so, he didn't realize that the makeup that was his fake scar came away as well. The crowd was still hushed as they watched the events unfold. Roland drew back to strike Amon again, but instead, Amon used bloodbending to send him flying over the edge of the arena towards the electrified water below. "Roland!" Korra cried as she tried to stand.

Amon stalked towards the edge and saw Roland hanging on with his hand. He looked about and saw that the pistol was where he had bloodbent him, and of no threat. "Spartan, you have been a thorn to me for far too long." Amon formed his own blood into an ice dagger. "Alas, you have no bending to remove, but I can take your life." Amon stooped over to slice Roland's hand open.

"Amon!" A man shouted from behind them. The lieutenant stood, clutching his gut from where Roland had shot him. "Everything the Avatar said is true, isn't it? I just saw you bloodbend him!"

Amon looked at his most trusted associate as the man removed his mask and crushed it. "You traitor! I dedicated my life to you!" The officer drew a shock glove and with his last breath attacked Amon.

His leader bloodbent him into submission next to Roland. "You've served me well, Lieutenant." Amon said as he pushed the man into the water below.

Korra finally managed to get her feet under her. "Amon! She shouted. "Leave him alone!"

Amon looked at the former Avatar and then back at Roland. "What are you going to…" Roland used his free hand to stab his knife into Amon's calf. "GAH!" Amon cried as he fell away from the Spartan. Korra tried to step forward, but she was still not feeling right from having her bending removed. Amon stood back up and looked at the Spartan. "I'm impressed." He said as he looked at the knife that jutted from his leg. "No one has ever gotten the better of me like that." Amon placed the blade on Roland hand. "You would have made a wonderful ally, it is almost too sad to have to kill you." Roland saw the look in his eyes as he said finished with "Almost."

"Say good bye to your lover, Avatar!" Amon laughed.

"No!" Korra punched with all her might, praying that some form of fire would blast out. What came instead shocked her. He punch was magnified with air and the blast knocked Amon away from Roland.

"Impossible!" Amon shouted as he stumbled away from the blast.

Korra looked at her hands. " I - I can airbend?" She clenched her fist and glared at Amon. "I can airbend!" With that, she sent another flurry of attacks towards him. Even with a knife jutting from his leg, Amon was still able to dodge many of her attacks. However, Korra managed to keep him at bay just fine.

Roland reached up and took hold of the arena with both hands. He pulled himself up and noted where his pistol was before dropping back down and shimming along the edge towards where his last shot laid.

Finally after being nearly pushed into the deadly water twice by airbending, Amon decided living was more important to him. He bloodbent Korra for all to see. Not only that, but his scar was almost completely gone as he approached the once again helpless Avatar.

"No." Korra fought as much as she could, but it was no use.

"Do you see what I do?" A voice asked from the crowd. People started to murmur. "He's bloodbending." Someone shouted.

"He is a bender." Cried another.

A third person shouted. "The scar was fake."

The crowd was in an uproar. "Looks like we won." Korra managed to say.

"The Avatar was telling the truth." Another person shouted.

Amon glared at her. With the scar gone, Korra could see the resemblance to Tarrlok with ease. "Then I shall start anew." Amon hissed at her. "But first, I shall rid myself of you." He started to slowly crush her. Korra screamed in pain as Amon crushed her from the inside.

Roland pulled himself up to see what was happening. He saw Korra being crushed and his pistol on five yards away. With all his speed, he pulled himself up and scooped the pistol into his hand. The night sights on his M6C glowed green even in the day light, and they stood out easily as the hovered over Amon's brown hair. The suppressor had always made the pistol slightly front heavy, but Roland's body compensated for the weight without even thinking. The shot was roughly fifteen yards. Korra was off to the side enough that Roland knew she wouldn't be hit. With the cries of disbelief from the crowd all around him, Roland applied slight pressure to the trigger.

Amon felt the movement of the Spartan and quickly bloodbent him as well. Roland's body froze in the position it was in. "Not so fast, Spartan." Amon cackled. Roland fought the bloodbending with every fiber of his being, but his entire body was locked up. He tried and tried to force his hand to fire, but nothing would happen. Roland tried the only other thing he could imagine. His body managed to inhale a deep breath of air, and with it, Roland allowed his mind to empty completely. His sole focus was on his front sight and the target behind it. Not that it was a mad man, not that Korra was dying, but simply a target that needed to be hit. His body decided to take over. The muscle memory from years of shooting caused his finger to slide back seemingly on its own. To his own disbelief, the Spartan's body fought through Amon's control.

Roland noticed the shell casing fly into the air and the slide lock back as the last bullet left the chamber. Amon was still laughing and didn't even know what hit him and his head exploded like an over ripe melon. Roland noticed the shell casing dancing on the hard surface of the arena floor before it fell into one of the grates that held the water for benders to use.

As the monster dropped, Roland felt his body become his once more. Holstering the pistol as he ran, Roland approached Korra and prayed he was not too late. She was covered in blood, but thankfully, it was not hers. Amon's nearly headless body rested beside them as Roland cradled her into his chest.

"Roland, my bending." Korra whispered into his chest as he rocked her slightly. Roland slid his knife out of Amon's leg and back into his sheath.

He glanced around and saw the crowd starting to disperse. Equalist troopers were fleeing , but he did not know to where. "Everything will be all right. We just need to get out of here." Roland said as he picked her up bridal style and left the way Amon had entered. As the crossed the bridge, Roland saw the water again flicker with electricity. He knew and Elite in full armor laid down there, but even better, so did two plasma rifles. However, Korra was priority right now, so he picked up his pace.

They made their way through the locker rooms and out into the open of the noon day sky. Roland saw equalist boats and airships heading towards the Air Temple Island. Apparently, that was to be the equalist Alamo. Korra seemed to have drifted off either to sleep or unconsciousness, but either way, Roland forged ahead.

As he carried Korra through the crowd, they parted to show their respect, even in this state, she was still the Avatar. Roland broke into a jog, and then nearly a flat out run as he exited the crowd and took off towards the only safe place they knew, the Hobo Haven.

He stole through the streets and neared an entrance to the tunnels that laid in a narrow alley when he realized Korra could no longer earthbend it open. He slowed slightly and tried to come up with a plan. "Hey scumbag!" Someone shouted out.

Roland turned as a clod of dirt struck him on the side of the head. A trio of people walked towards him eager for a fight. A female earthbender was in the front, backed up by a large male waterbender, and a female firebender. This was obviously a team from the Arena. "Poor little equalist running scared?" The firebender taunted.

Roland set Korra down against a dumpster and prepared to fight. "I'm not an equalist." He said.

"Sure ya ain't!" The waterbender scoffed. "You probably just wear that outfit cause it flatters yer figure."

Roland did not want to kill these three, but his mission was Korra, and nothing else. "I don't want to fight you. I have the…"

Another tighter packed clod of dirt flew past him mid sentence. "I don't really care." The earthbender sneered. "We're gonna wipe the floor with you in honor of all those who lost their bending."

Roland shrugged. He tried to warn them, but so be it. This was a dead end, so he'd have to fight them to get out anyway. The water bender struck out first, sending a water whip in his direction. Roland jumped out of the way, only to be greeted by two blasts of fire. The situation was too tight for him to flank his opponents, and the three of them were able to keep him boxed in well enough.

"Can't run forever." The earthbender chuckled.

Roland shrugged. He stopped trying to advance and simply stood there. "I'm not going to fight you. We are on the same side."

"Ha!" The earthbender trapped his feet up to the ankle in stone. "Your loss."

She and the waterbender looked him over. "You're pretty different for an equalist." The waterbender said.

"Guys!" The firebender shouted. "This is the Avatar!" She was kneeling next to Korra to see who Roland had been carrying.

"Thank you." Roland praised them for coming to this conclusion. "I'm on your side."

They earthbender still didn't seem to believe him. "Prove it."

Roland drew his knife. "You see this?" He asked pointing to the blood covered blade. "That is Amon's blood. We just killed him."

All three were shocked. "You killed him…" The firebender shuddered. "Are you the Spartan?"

"Yes." Roland said simply.

"I read about you in an article. It said you can defeat any foe and kill anyone." She added.

"I am so sorry." The earthbender said as she released him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well, there is one thing." Roland led them to the entrance, and she easily opened it.

"What am I going to do?" Korra mumbled, regaining consciousness as they entered the darkness.

Roland kissed her forehead as softly as he could on the run. "You've still got me." He huffed. "We'll find a way through this."

Roland ran into the Haven and was greeted by Gommu. "All of our hero's have returned!" He shouted with glee. The small crowd cheered for the Spartan and the Avatar as they were led to the rest of the group.

Roland set Korra down carefully against Naga and looked at his partner. "I have a feelin that we ain't trained fer this." Jonah sighed as he realized what had happened.

Mako and Bolin rushed to her side and tried to comfort her. Korra saw Mako's bandaged arm and broke into tears.

"What's wrong!" Mako asked. "I'm fine! The healer said I'll be good as new by this evening!"

Korra shook her head, "I can't heal you!" She cried. The realization set in on both brothers. If she couldn't heal that meant she couldn't waterbend , which meant she couldn't bend at all because Amon had taken it.

"Korra, I'm so sorry." Bolin said as he took her hand.

Korra turned her face into Naga's fur and motioned for the brother to leave. The honored her wishes and did so.

Roland looked to General Iroh. "What happened Spartan?" He asked with concern.

"She's had her bending removed." Roland conformed for all to hear. "She can airbend, but nothing else." The General nodded sadly. Roland recounted all of what happened in their attack. "All of the equalists seemed to be retreating toward the island." Roland finished after several minutes. Korra was still bawling in the background. Any sort of tomboy exterior had fallen away, and she was just a hurt girl.

Iroh nodded. "And they have airships. We can't let them escape." He looked at the two Spartans. Both nodded a silent yes to his unsaid question. "We will attack at before dusk. Our reinforcements will be here at nightfall, so if we manage to destroy the airships before then, we can trap them and force the equalists to surrender."

Roland nodded. He looked at Jonah. "Come get me when it's time." Jonah agreed, and Roland walked over to Korra's side. He took her in his arms once more, and cradled her as she bawled into his chest. No words were spoken between the two, instead, the soldier simply tried to comfort his lover and friend after one of the most devastating things possible had happen to her.

**What did you think? We had a little covenant action. The reason I only used four Elites is this. All six would have shown up, but let's say Amon had to kill two before he could restrain the other four. Those four were then locked up and kept in reserve for an instance such as what happen. I hope I made this fight original, while I still don't think a Spartan could be any different while under bloodbending, muscle memory is an amazing thing. The sights were already aligned and so it would have been nothing but a slow squeeze. Just because Amon is dead, does not mean the story is over! Read and Review! **


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 for all to read. This is still not my stuff. **

**Chapter Twenty **

It had been several hours since all of Team Avatar made it back safely to the Hobo Haven. Jonah watched as his partner cradled Korra in his arms. "They haven't moved." Bolin noted aloud.

Jonah stood. "Yeah…" He was sorry to do this, but had to get them ready to fight one more time. Most people thought he was completely heartless, but Roland was one person he would die for in an instant.

As he approached, Roland glanced up at him with a mild look of irritation. The look in Jonah's eyes apologized for him. "Korra…" Roland whispered as he shook her gently. It had taken two hours, but she had finally stopped crying and had fallen asleep.

"Mmpf." Korra's arms where around Roland and she pulled him in tighter.

Roland tried to push her away. "We have to go." Roland whispered. He withdrew his arms from her and grabbed her shoulders.

Korra looked up at him with red eyes and tear stained cheeks. The scar on her cheek from Tarrlok was rather pronounced from the tears. "What now?" Korra asked. She sounded exhausted and defeated.

"It's the equalists. We need to prevent their escape." Roland helped her to stand. General Iroh and the others stood waiting and ready. Iroh had already briefed them on a plan and they were waiting for the Avatar.

Korra took a few steps to awaken herself. She gritted her teeth and fired a blast of air into a nearby box. "At least something works." She sighed.

"Avatar Korra." Iroh approached them. "I am sorry for your loss, but we need to stop the equalists from escaping."

Korra nodded and flexed her shoulders, psyching herself up to get ready to fight. "Alright, what are we going to do?"

Iroh explained the plan in detail. Roland, Korra, Jonah, Asami, and Bolin would draw equalist attention by creating the best frontal attack they could. For the five of them, it was essentially going to be a fight as you go plan. Mako and Iroh would destroy the orbiting airships with firebending, then they would all rally in the temple courtyard.

"Sounds simple enough." Korra said as the General finished.

She held tightly to Roland's hand as they moved through the tunnels. That was the only outward sign of her anxiety, otherwise she seemed ready to go. Dusk was falling as the group made their way to the docks. Without Korra's waterbending to shield them, they would have to row a boat out to the island. Thankfully, another fog was starting to settle in.

"Ya want this back?" Jonah asked Roland as he tapped the helmet.

Roland shook his head as he took a seat behind an oar. "Nah, it suits you." Roland was still in his equalist disguise, but he had put on his gauntlets from his armor. This way, he could use his fists and wrists with no damage to himself.

"Still got this too." Jonah patted the block of C12 as he took a seat next to him.

Bolin stepped in behind the two Spartans. "What exactly does that do?" He asked, point at the plastic explosives.

"Ya know them bombs those planes had?" Jonah asked. Bolin nodded a yes in reply. "This is two of em."

Bolin stared at the explosives and then at Jonah. "What's it on your armor for then?"

Jonah shrugged. "It's perfectly safe…" He removed a wireless detonator from his belt and synced it to his helmet. "Now it's dangerous" He said as he inserted the small device. His voice sounded even crazier coming out of the helmet.

"Alright, everyone quiet." Iroh whispered as he pushed them away from the pier. The voyage was short. The two Spartans had plenty of muscle, along with Bolin and Mako, they made it across in only a few minutes. As they neared shore, a voice drifted across the water.

"Hey Ling." A younger guy with a squeaky voice asked.

"Yeah Ru?" Ling replied.

"You've ever wondered why we are here." Ru asked as he stooped over and withdrew a small stone from the water's edge.

Ling turned to face his comrade, "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it. Why are we here? I mean are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or are there really spirits, watching over everything, you know with a plan for us and some stuff? I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."

Ru and Ling just stared at each other, until Ru spoke up finally. "What? I mean why are we in here in patrolling along this beach at night? "

Ling answered with "Oh…uh…yeah."

"What was all that stuff about the spirits?" Ru asked.

"Oh…uh… nothing." Ling said trying not to make himself look weird.

Ru waited for a moment before asking."You wanna talk about it?"

"No." Ling said simply.

"You sure?" Ru tried to get him to talk.

"Yeah." Ling shook his head up and down. Jonah stood and allowed the VISR to slice through the fog, outlining both equalists in red. "Don't worry about..." Two thumps resounded as Jonah dispatched both of the targets.

They all disembarked on shore and stealthily made their way towards the temple. Iroh glanced upwards and heard the droning noise of the airships idle engines. He motioned for Mako to follow him, and the two broke off into the mist.

Jonah had point and scanned the area with his VISR. "There's the temple." He whispered. The others could barely make out the buildings ahead of them.

"I want more guards stationed all around the island!" Sato shouted to his officers. The equalists darted away to follow his commands. It looked as if Sato had taken command of the equalist army for the time being.

Roland also heard the exchange, and he glanced at his friends around him. "Ready?" He knew Mako and Iroh were waiting for them to kick the evening off with a bang. Four nods of approval sealed the equalists fate. Roland stood up from the low crouch he had been in and grasped his combat knife in a reverse grip. "Let's go." He said.

They five of them advanced slowly through the mist towards the equalists. Sato walked away towards the temple itself just as Jonah fired a shot into the man next to him. As blood splattered over his otherwise pristine jacket, Sato screamed "Benders!"

Roland rushed forward as a wave of air impacted the man he was targeting. Korra had thrown one of the few attacks she knew, which disabled the equalist so that Roland could stab his knife into the man's chest.

"ALARM!" Someone shouted and Roland could hear the call echoing throughout the temple area. And explosion detonated overhead just as Bolin crushed one of the equalists who was preparing to fight.

Asami shocked a female equalist and Jonah smashed the woman's skull in with his armored boot. Asami shuddered and moved away from the Spartan as he fired two more shots into an advancing equalist.

Korra sent another blast of air down the path that they were about to traverse. A second airship exploded in the night sky. Roland took off down the path with the rest of the group following close behind.

The walkway led towards the main living area, and Roland didn't hesitate as he smashed his shoulder through the flimsy wooden door. Four equalists, one female, two younger males, and an older male, were inside putting on their uniforms and weapons.

Roland pushed off with his left foot and lunged into one of the younger men. His fist smashed into the man's face, and with the armored gauntlet backing it up, simply caved in the frontal lobe of the skull, killing the man. Roland's senses were in overload as he spun to see the woman reaching for a shock glove.

Roland kicked his leg out, shattering her knee cap and causing her to fall to the floor with a scream. He turned his attention to the older man who was grabbing a wicked looking sword from his belt. The man swung, intent on removing Roland's head from his shoulders, but the wrist guards made an excellent shield. The sword bent slightly from the impact, and Roland wasted no time wrapping his hand around the hilt of the sword. With a sharp twist, he shattered every bone in the man's hand and took the sword for himself. He simply ran the blade through the man's chest, and at that moment, something registered in his mind. _Number four._ Ran through his thoughts as he spun on his heel to see the fourth man lunging forward with a spear.

Unable to dodge, Roland grabbed the shaft just behind the spear head. As he prepared to disarm the man, a suppressed shot thumped from the door way, and the man's head exploded from the right side. Roland looked up to see Jonah running in within the full armor.

The woman was still on the ground screaming from her broken leg, but Roland dispatched her with the spear as the rest of the attack force entered the temple. Just as Bolin entered the door, a crossbow fired, and cut past his side. "Ahh!" He screamed as he fell to his unharmed side and cradled the injury.

Roland looked at Jonah and grabbed Bolin roughly by the collar. He dragged him to an empty room and pulled the shirt away. "I'm dying, you gotta get a healer!" Bolin cried. Another airship exploded overhead. "This is never going to work!"

Roland wiped away the small amount of blood to see a scratch no longer than his thumb. "You're a wimp." Roland muttered as he stood up and rejoined the fight. Bolin looked at the injury and blushed with embarrassment. He ran out into the hallway to rejoin the fight.

Korra had taken the lead now, and although she was unable to do anything but airbend, she still was kicking butt. With an almost effortless slice, she sent a sharp blast of wind towards two equalists, knocking them aside and allowing her to push past.

Roland and Jonah both stacked up next to a closed doorway. "Bedroom." Roland said simply.

Jonah nodded and stepped back to kick the door in. The wooden frame splintered under his boot as the door flew open. Roland rolled around the corner and was the first in. He looked right and saw an equalist reaching for a sword while bare chested as he had been trying to dress himself. To his left, Roland noticed two more equalists also going for weapons.

Jonah followed Roland a heartbeat later and went left. He lifted his pistol and fired several successive shots into the two equalists. He glanced to the side and saw Roland leaping through the air into the other man. Roland grabbed the sword wielding hand and jerked it to the side, breaking the elbow and the wrist. He drew back his fist and smashed it into the man's solar plexus. As the man started to double over from pain, Roland smashed his elbow into his temple, giving the man a concussion and knocking him to the floor. Jonah stepped forward and shot the man in the head.

"It's good to have you back." Roland muttered as he turned to leave the room. Jonah simply smiled and followed his friend back into the carnage.

Korra had pressed the attack even more. As she rounded a corner, she saw Hiroshi Sato climbing a ladder into one of the attics. Her blast of air just missed him, but it wrecked everything else inside of the hallway. "Sato just went up that ladder!" She shouted as she ran towards the attic entrance.

A fourth airship was detonated, and then Mako and Iroh burst through the doorway at the end of the hall. "The fleet has arrived!" Iroh shouted as he fried an equalist that ran out of a side room.

Roland caught up to Korra with Jonah at his side. "You two." He pointed to Asami and Bolin. "Go with the General." They nodded, and ran to the end of the hallway to rejoin forces and link up with the fleet. Asami quickly hugged Mako before the continued to fight. A different type of explosion rocked the building. The fleet was firing on the island, destroying equalist defenses and preparing to land troops.

"Alright, he's up there." Roland said calmly to Korra and Jonah. "Let's do it." Jonah held his pistol with one hand as he climbed up with another. He slowly poked his head and pistol into the entrance and scanned it thoroughly before he pulled the rest of his body up.

"Clear." He whispered. Korra and Roland both climbed up to join him. The part of the attic was different from where Tarrlok had been imprisoned. It was far larger, and seemed almost like a second floor instead of an attic. Crates and boxes were scattered all over, and Jonah wasn't seeing anything on the VISR.

"Sato!" Korra shouted. "I know you're up here!" Jonah kept his pistol raised and took a step forward. He scanned the room slowly, but nothing was showing up at all. Finally, something flickered red.

"Come out!" Jonah's voice boomed through the speakers. Sato came out from behind a crate with his hands raised.

"I will come quietly." Sato said in a defeated tone.

Jonah continued forward with caution. "On your knees!" He bellowed. Korra was advancing with him, and Roland was watching the rest of the room.

"As you wish." Sato dropped to his knees and Jonah saw a small device in his hand. He fired instinctively and his second to last bullet in the magazine left the barrel. Sato's fat body absorbed the impact, but the hollow point round blew a huge chunk of his flesh out of his back. Sato's organs were ruined and he collapsed on the floor with a dying hiccup of a laugh as he released the button.

At that moment, the helmet flashed him a magnetic alert. MJLONIR armor like the Spartan II's wore was shielded and non magnetic, however the cheaper and lighter SPI armor of the Headhunters was neither shielded, nor anti magnetic. Whether Sato knew this for a fact or not, Jonah felt his body start to move forward. He noticed the metal spikes sticking out of the far wall, and his body picked up speed before impacting them. Every bit of air was expunged from his lungs as sharpened metal spikes cut into every part of his armor that was not covered with a plate. His outer and inner thighs, the left side of his neck, his armpit, and even his elbows were punched through.

"Jonah!" Roland screamed. His knife was tugging at the sheath, but then the magnet shut down, allowing Jonah to fall away from the spikes. Blood started to fiercely pump from the Spartan's injuries. Korra stood there, too shocked to do anything at first. Roland grabbed his buddy and pulled him towards the window. The fog had dissipated, and a full moon shone through, lighting his injuries for Roland to see.

"Hang on pal." Roland said as he slid the helmet off. Korra knelt beside him and placed her hand on his left thing. She applied pressure because that puncture was bleeding more so than any other. Roland started to remove plates of the armor in order to access the wounds. He quickly detached almost everything but the chest plate, as the wounds were extensive and covering the body. He also removed Jonah's backpack that held the cloaking unit and his extra gear and placed it under Jonah's head as a hard pillow.

Roland removed Jonah's med kit and dumped the contents on the floor. A small can of bio foam, two shots of adrenaline, a shot of morphine, and two pressure bandages were all that it contained.

Korra was shaking her head as she tried to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" She whispered, barely able to speak from the shock.

Roland moved her hands away and inserted the nozzle of the bio foam into the hole left by the spike. The can was emptied in moments, but the bleeding subsided. However, before they could do anything, the other thigh started to bleed worse. The pressure of blocking this injury had severed Jonah's right femoral artery.

"No…" Roland hissed. He wrapped a pressure bandage over the leg, but it did nothing to help stop the blood flow. Roland tried to bio foam once more, but the can was emptied.

Korra took Jonah's hand and looked him in the eyes. "You can't die." She whispered.

"Sorry Korra." Jonah sighed. It hurt him to let her down. He barely even knew the girl, but it was easy to see why Roland fell for her. Her blue eyes watered with unshed tears for him. "I guess I'm done this time." Jonah's voice had already become fainter. Roland ignored the comment and tried desperately again the stop the blood flow. "Look, just stick that there bandage on my arm, and give me the morphine." Jonah was slightly irritated. "I've done my part in this fight."

"Jonah, I am so sorry!" Korra finally found her voice as Roland wrapped his friend with the already bloody bandage.

"Don't be." Jonah looked at the Avatar. "It's not yer fault at all. Blame Amon, or Sato, or anyone but yerself. Ya didn't do this to me."

"But I can't heal you." Korra cried. She squeezed his hand tighter.

"Ya just take care of Roland for me." Jonah relaxed his head back against the backpack. He could see the moon shining in on him and he thought of the missions he and Roland had fought on throughout out the stars. "Heck, if ya think he's worth it, marry him one day." Jonah grinned slightly at the thought. "I couldn't a been around yer kids anyways."

"No!" Roland had finished with the bandage and looked straight into his friend's eyes. "I'm going to make you watch each one of them." He hissed as he reached for the clean bandage, but Jonah stopped him.

"No use." Jonah said. Roland shrugged his hand off and grabbed the adrenaline shot. Every ounce of his being wanted to cry out for Jonah, but he couldn't even think straight. "No." Jonah said again, bringing Roland back into focus. "Don't waste it."

"Dang it Jay." Roland sighed. He took Jonah's other hand in his own. "You can't go and die on me now."

Jonah was already looking terribly pale from the loss of blood. "Sorry…" Jonah coughed up blood mixed with air. Apparently the force of the impact had shaken his organs as well. Another explosion rocked the island.

Neither the Spartans, nor the Avatar heard the footsteps approaching behind them. Roland felt the impact of some type of wooden object as he fell face first into the floor. Korra tried to fight, but who ever this was put her in a rear naked choke and knocked her unconscious.

Jonah looked up and saw Tarrlok standing there in the moonlight. He tied Korra and then walked over and chained Roland's leg to a wooden post that held up the ceiling. Just as he finished, Roland came to. "Tarrlok." He hissed.

The councilman bowed deeply after making sure he was out of the Spartan's reach. "At your service." He said menacingly.

Roland tried to pull at the chain, but it was far too strong, even for him. Tarrlok stooped over and picked up Jonah's M6C and slid his knife free of its sheath. "What are you doing?" Roland asked through gritted teeth.

Tarrlok shrugged as he approached Korra. Her hands and feet were tied, but Tarrlok quickly hung her by her restrains over a beam a few feet over the floor, just in front of the window. . "You see, Spartan," Tarrlok hissed as he shook Korra awake. "You were right, I was never sorry, and I would do it all over again." Korra's eyes fluttered open. "Except, I would have killed you the moment we met."

"Tarrlok!" Korra shouted. She twisted and tried to break free of the restraints.

Tarrlok looked at Roland. "You see, I am a man of my word." He ran the knife along Korra's stomach with just enough pressure to cut away the clothing. Jonah had always kept his knife sharper than a razor. "And while, I cannot blood bend, I can certainly cause you both as much pain as possible before I leave." Korra's hair had fallen down over her face a bit, but Trrlok used the knife point to slide it back. "So you left a scar for me?" He laughed.

Roland sprinted towards him, but the chain snapped him backwards. "Monster!" He shouted.

Tarrlok turned and aimed the pistol as he had seen the Spartans do. "I suppose so." The bullet smashed into Roland's side, somehow avoiding all the major organs, but still taking a large chunk of flesh out in the process. The slide locked back now that the weapon was clear.

"Roland!" Korra tried to see if he was okay, but Tarrlok blocked her view. The Spartan groaned and sat up to look. Tarrlok smiled wickedly as he drew the knife across Korra's stomach. The slightest bit of blood started to appear on her athletic abdomen. "Tarrlok, no!" Korra cried. "Don't do this!"

"Ah, but your hero has to come save you." Tarrlok smirked as he cut slightly deeper along the same line. Korra winced at the pain. "You see Roland, you may have been able to save this pathetic city, but I am going to make it cost you."

Roland pushed against the wooden pillar once more, but to no avail. "Tarrlok, I swear, I will…"

"You'll what?" Tarrlok asked snidely. "Gut me like I am about to gut her?" Roland pulled harder. "I don't think so. You see Spartan, there is no one to help you now."

Jonah was watching from the floor. He glanced at Roland and then at Korra and the mad man trying to kill her. "_Dang it Rolle, ya had to be all worried bout me, didntcha?" _Jonah's arms felt like weights as he groped around on the ground for what he needed. His fingers brushed against the small single use syringe filled with adrenaline.

"_Gotcha" _Jonah smiled as his fingers closed around the medical device. He drew his arm back, and stabbed the syringe into his neck. Instantly, he felt as if he could run a marathon. His feet responded to his brain a little slower than normal, but Jonah righted himself and looked Tarrlok's back.

Korra was screaming at this point for help and for Tarrlok to stop. All Jonah hoped was that he wasn't too late. He rushed forward and smashed his shoulder into Tarrlok. The madman had no idea what hit him as they both tumbled through the glass window and fell three stories to the stone ground below. In the background, Jonah could hear Roland screaming for him, but they were already outside.

Equalists ran to Tarrlok's side to see what had happened and helped him up. "You stupid Spartans!" Tarrlok spat. "Don't you ever die?"

Jonah glanced around. At least a dozen, if not more equalist troopers manned a defensive position here. He noticed the dark green rectangle of C12 with the detonator sticking out of it laying only a few inches from his head. _It must have come loose in the fall._ Jonah thought.

"Give me that!" Tarrlok bellowed as he took a sword from one of the men. He had some blood dribbling off his face from the glass as well as Korra's blood on his hands.

Jonah's arms moved more slowly now. The affects of the adrenaline were already wearing off. Even through his gloves, he felt his hand close around the smooth detonator. _Sorry Rolle. _Jonah though. _You better make that girl happy. _With that, he looked up at Tarrlok standing over him. Blood dribbled down his chin and when he grinned, his teeth were red."Haven't you ever heard?" He choked out. "Spartans never die…." He started to crush the detonator in his hand "we're just missing in action."

The detonator pushed back slightly against Jonah's hand as it exploded. The C12 underneath it was ignited and the last thing Jonah felt was a wave of white heat before there was nothing at all.

Roland saw the flash and felt the reverberations throughout the building. "_No…." _ Was all the Spartan could think. He looked at Korra hanging there. She had blood pouring down her stomach, but none of it looked bad, until he realized the knife Tarrlok had used had been shoved into her. Jonah had stopped Tarrlok just in time, but that knife could cause and issue. A voice came from the entrance to the attic. "Roland?" Mako shouted.

"Over here!" Roland cried back.

"I found them!" Mako shouted as he ran to Roland's aid. He made a torch come out of his finger and quickly severed the chains. Only then, did he notice Korra. "Korra?" Mako asked as he approached her cautiously.

"I'm still alive!" She hissed at him painfully. "Would you get me down?"

Mako cut her down and laid her to the ground as Bolin and Iroh climbed up to the attic as well. Iroh took one look at them both and shouted for a medic.

The water bender ran to their aid as Bolin helped each injured person down. He treated Korra quickly for her cuts and scrapes, but it took a little longer to treat the knife injury. After a few minutes though, he had the wound closed and turned his attention to Roland. "Where is Jonah?" Bolin asked as he looked back into the attic.

"Gone." Roland sighed sadly. "He took Tarrlok out with him." There was no longer a mission to complete, and Roland started to feel the loss of Jonah immediately.

Bolin just stood there silent as the healer finished. "Sir, I'll need to move him to Commander Bumi's flag ship." The medic said to Iroh. "They need a place to rest, and the Spartan isn't held together very well."

"Do it then!" Iroh said as he grabbed Roland gently.

"Wait!" Roland requested. "That pack…" He pointed to Jonah's rucksack. "I need it, and all of those bloodied plates." Even after the loss of his friend, Roland still wanted his gear accountable to him. Bolin packed it all away for him and handed it to Iroh.

Korra managed to make it under her own steam as they walked through the carnage of the assault. The island was pocketed with craters from the incoming fire. An airship was smashed against the cliff, and troops were everywhere looking for the last remaining equalists.

Iroh and the medic led the way and soon, Korra and Roland were in a private room on the ship. Korra sat idly in a chair as the medic finished. "That's all I can do for him, sir." The medic said as he straightened up.

"Very well. You two have earned some rest." He looked at the two teenagers who both looked far older than they were. "I'm sorry there is only one bed, but I doubt you'll mind." He started to close the door. "I placed your bag by the chair. Tenzin should be here in the morning." And with that, he left.

Korra stood and walked to Roland's side. He slid over in the bed to make room for her. Both were injured and exhausted. The Avatar, almost gutted alive, and without most of her bending abilities rolled to face the Spartan. He had lost the closest person to him, been shot, and almost lost his love.

"I'm sorry." Korra said again. All of the Tomboy cockiness she usually had was gone. She was just a hurt girl looking for comfort in one of the few places she could.

Roland kissed her gently. "It's not your fault. It's not mine either. Jonah finished the last of these people off for us, so that we can enjoy each other." A single tear fell from the Spartans eye. He had never and probably never would be much of the emotional type, but it felt as if a part of him was gone forever."It would be a tragedy to not enjoy the life he allowed us to live."

Korra nuzzled her head up to him and slowly wrapped her arms around his core. Roland flinched slightly when she brushed against his wound, but returned the gesture and soon, the two were asleep in each other's arms once more. The city was safe, but they still had another trail to make it through.

**Alright, so incase you didn't notice, I don't like Tarrlok. From the moment I saw him in the show, I didn't like him. After killing Amon, I didn't want him to just sit in a cell, so this is the result. I know a lot of people enjoyed his redemption moment in the show, but I portrayed him a smore of a monster from the start, hence the death. Also, Jonah died, for sure. I hate killing him off, but no one else would have worked. I thought the magnetic trap wasn't too far ahead of their technology, so that also played into it. I also threw in a little Red vs. Blue shout out, I love that series. So, how are Roland and Korra going to handle the losses that just happened? Read and Review!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Here's chapter 21. I know a lot of people don't like that I killed off Jonah, and while I value your reviews, I think it needed to happen. As always, this is not my stuff. **

**Chapter Twenty One**

"So, now we rebuild" Tenzin sighed as he overlooked his home. The entire island was a mess. Craters and scorch marks riddled the landscape, and there was structural damage from where Jonah had given his life.

Roland stood there cradling his M7S. He had recovered it first thing that morning and had placed Jonah's only magazine into it. Thankfully, Jonah had also stashed away a full clip of .45 ammo. Roland had added his one shot, and he was still packing. _Time to talk to a metalbender _He thought as he watched Tenzin and Korra walk around the grounds.

Many of the bodies of the equalists had already been taken aboard the ship in order to be given a burial at sea. Korra had seemed to be in a slight daze all morning. When they woke up, she wouldn't say more than two or three words at a time, and she still wasn't being terrible responsive. Roland started to recognize it as depression and figured it would have to be dealt with eventually, but he also felt the loss of Jonah welling up inside of him.

"It is so sad to see my father's home like this." Tenzin shook his head sadly.

Roland cringed slightly as his rucksack shifted and nudged his injury. The Spartans stomach was churning with guilt. There was no longer a mission to focus on too dull the pain. Roland had to do something to take his mind away. "If y'all will excuse me, I'm gonna go do some work." He headed for his bedroom. It was relatively untouched from the attack and gave him a simple work place.

He didn't notice Korra's eyes looking at him longingly as he walked off.

Roland opened the rucksack and removed its contents. Everything for a fully functional suit of SPI armor was before him. From his helmet to his shin guards, and many of Jonah's plates as well. He even had the base layer of grey under suit that was still cut through from where he was injured. "Here we go…" Roland sighed as he started to work.

His first task was to remove the blood from Jonah's plates, which he did quickly and solemnly. Even though it was Jonah's blood, Roland was able to focus on his task and faze out any thoughts. Roland then took out a sewing kit and stitched up the under suit. He set the plates in their proper order and noticed that he had quite a few duplicates however not a piece was missing to complete the set. He did a check on each plate to ensure it would function and then stacked them accordingly.

Next, he looked over his helmet. With the extensive use over the last few days, he only had about sixty hours of battery life left, so finding a way to recharge it would be priority. He double checked the active camouflage unit and ensured the internal function was still able to recharge itself.

He tested the av cam unit with his plates, and it functioned perfectly. After checking over the jumpsuit once more, he placed the gear in order into his rucksack. This would allow him to put on a fully functional suit in only minutes.

He went over his personal medical kit which contained the same amount of gear Jonah's had. Two shots of adrenaline, one of morphine, a small can of biofoam, and a pressure bandage.

Next, he inventoried his weapons once more. The M7S had its one magazine of sixty shots of casesless ammo. Thankfully, Jonah also had two more empty magazines, so Roland hoped to have plenty of ammo if needed.

Next he looked over his M6C. He hadn't given it a though cleaning recently, so that took about four minutes. He then looked over his thirteen bullets and four magazines. Same plan with the M7S, he would need to find a metal bender and some form of smokeless powder. Thankfully the M6C was a tough little handgun and could function with just about anything, but the M7S might be a little more finicky.

Roland thought of the two plasma rifles that laid at the bottom of the arena and made a mental note to go retrieve them. Finally, he sharpened his knife. This entire process would have taken him only thirty two minutes and fifteen seconds plus or minus five seconds back when he was on duty. This time, it took him nearly an hour, but now he was done. He clicked the rucksack shut, and as if a switch was thrown, his gut twisted into a knot once more.

"Dang it Jonah!" Roland sighed. Right now, he truly wanted to be back in the fight against the Covenant. Anything to take his mind somewhere else. "Why did you have to go and be the one in the suit." Roland felt a tear roll down his cheek. He never had time to cry before, and being with Korra last night, he wouldn't allow himself more than a single tear, but now, alone, he let the tears fall freely for his partner.

After a few moments of silent crying, Roland remembered his own words from the night before. "Gotta live the life you gave me, Jay." He hefted the rucksack onto his shoulders after holstering his M6C and sheathing his knife. He grabbed the M7S on his way out, and was ready to live.

He strolled down the halls looking for Korra. As he walked, he heard several loud grunts of anger coming from the airbending training ground. Roland poked his head out to see Korra trying her hardest to do some other form of bending. She had a bucket of water, along with some stones placed at her feet, and she was running through the stances she had been taught over and over again.

"Anything?" Roland asked as he set his pack down gingerly.

Korra threw a fist forward, fully expecting fire to leap out of it, but nothing did. "No, nothing." She sighed. "I even tried healing myself, but I can't even do that."

Roland was glad that she was at least speaking right now. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

Korra shrugged and tried once more to bend. "Fine, I guess." She touched her stomach. "Jonah really did give us our lives, didn't he?"

Roland replied with a nod. "That he did. He was always a simple guy. He loved to fight and kill, and he was good at it."

Korra walked over and took Roland's hand in hers. "I wish I could have gotten to know him more."

"I don't." Roland smiled at her. "He could have kept you up at night."

She smiled back at him. "Pema and the kids are supposed to be here soon, we should go meet them." A crowd had assembled near the sky bison grounds.

The two injured warriors walked towards the crowd of people as a pair of bison came in for a landing. Lin Beifong was among the crowd, and she approached Korra before anyone else. "I can't believe Amon got you too." She said sadly.

Korra nodded sadly, as Tenzin approached with a uniformed man. "Avatar Korra, pleasure to finally meet ya." The man said.

"Um… good morning." She said to him cautiously.

"Korra this is…"

Tenzin was interrupted by his brother. "General Bumi, son of Avatar Aang, and brother to Mr. fancypants here." Korra smiled at Tenzin's reaction of irritation to Bumi's arm around him. "And you must be the Spartan." Bumi said to Roland.

"Yes sir." Roland said. Shockingly, Bumi was the one who initiated a handshake between the two of them. At that moment, Roland knew this was a man he approved of.

"Heard a lot of your tales from my men." Bumi said. "I'd be honored if you would ever like to join the fleet."

Roland thought for a moment. "I will keep it in mind, but my priority right now is with Korra."

"Understood, I got a special unit with your name on it though. A assortment of benders, but the toughest bunch you ever met. Call themselves the Raiders, and they already got their eye on you."

Roland enjoyed being wanted. "Thank you sir, I'm sure Tenzin can contact you on my behalf if needed."

"Why of course! Ol Tenzy can get me on the line in seconds." Bumi wrapped his arm around his little brother. Tenzin tried to push him away, but to no avail.

Accepting that his elder brother would be hanging on him, Tenzin continued. "Now about Korra, we must find a way to return your bending."

"What about Mama." Bumi cut in. "She's the best healer there is."

Tenzin stroked his beard in thought for a moment. "Yes, if she can't do it, no one can. We shall plan a trip to the Southern Water Tribe at once."

Korra had perked up at this point. "So, you think Katara can heal me?" She asked eagerly.

"We shall see soon enough." Tenzin nodded and went to be with his wife and family.

"Korra!" Bolin shouted. He led the way through the crowd with Asami and Mako following behind him. "How are you feeling? Did you get your bending back?"

Korra resisted the urge to airbend him into a wall. "No, not yet."

"Not the time." Mako whispered to his brother.

"Right, right, I'll just stand over here" Bolin stepped to the side. "quietly," Mako shot him a look and Bolin placed his hand over his mouth. "in silence."

"So, what's the plan?" Mako asked. "Our rooms are mostly intact, except Asami's is covered in blood and had two dead bodies in it."

Roland simply shrugged. "Sorry, threats had to be neutralized." He turned to Lin. "I am sorry to ask you this now, but I need a metal bender, a good one."

Lin nodded with only a slight hint of sadness. "I know a few." She looked at him with curiosity. "What for?"

Roland held up a bullet from his M6C. "I need more." He said.

"Follow me." Roland and Lin left the island together on a simple water craft and entered the city. Neither was much for talking, so nothing was said. Lin led him to a shop near the Police Station. It was undamaged from the previous few days attacks, and she knocked on the door loudly.

"We're closed!" A husky voice shouted from inside.

"Open up you big oaf!" Lin shouted back.

The lock slid away and the door cracked slightly. "Chief, what can I do for you?" a man asked.

"Wun, I need a favor for a friend." She said. The door opened to reveal a man of average height. He had graying hair on the left side of his head, and the right side seemed freshly singed. The lingering smell of burnt hair added to the estimation.

Lin and Roland entered the small shop, and immediately, Roland recognized the smell of black powder. Wun closed the door and walked behind the counter. Roland couldn't help but notice that he was missing his right leg. It had been replaced with a metal spike at the knee.

"Wun." The man said introducing himself to Roland.

"Roland, I need your help, and Lin said you're a good metal bender." Roland removed one of each bullet. He looked around the shop. It was kind of dark, and smelled in an assortment burning smells. The ceiling was rather low, and the wooden beams had a few burn marks as well.

"Lin?" Wun raised his eyebrow at her first name. "Ha, the Chief is far better than me."

"Not for this task." Lin said, not wanting to reveal her lack of bending or lack of material.

"I need more of these." Roland placed a pistol bullet on the countertop.

Wun picked it up and quickly bent it apart. "Seems simple enough. I like the powder, I'm going to copy it. What do you need it for? It won't make much of an explosion."

Roland nodded. "I know, but if you could make me one thousand, I'd be greatly in your debt."

"No you wouldn't." Wun said, "cause you'd pay me."

Roland agreed. "I'd also like one thousand of these." He placed the caseless cartridge from the M7S on the counter as well."

"Very well." Wun strolled off to the back room.

Roland poked his head through the door way and saw metals of all types. Wun grabbed a chunk of brass and formed hundreds of casings. Within thirty minutes, he had completed all two thousand rounds of ammunition. "Two hundred yen and this new powder and we're even."

Roland had expected it to be far more. He had nearly a thousand yen saved from his time working and a few evenings of gambling with the guards. Roland took one of the pistols rounds and inserted it into the chamber of his M6C. He aimed into a potted plate, and the bullet made a resounding thump as it impacted. "Works for me." He grinned.

With a simple cash transaction, Roland now had plenty of ammo and the location of where to get more. The two returned to the island via the Pro Bending Arena. "This is a restricted area sir." A uniformed man said calmly.

Lin replied before Roland could. "Chief Lin Beifong. We need to check something in here."

The guard seemed as if he wasn't going to open up, but gave in to the famous Beifong name. Roland led the way into the central chamber. Nothing seemed to have changed since the day before. There was still a good bit of litter scattered around and he noticed flies around the radio booth.

"So what are you doing?" Lin asked.

Roland removed his pack and kicked his boots off. "I have to get something." He said. He kicked a can into the water, but no reaction came from it. He executed a dive into the water some twenty feet below. It felt cool, but instantly caused a stinging in his side. His powerful legs kicked, and within moments, he had found a massive metal object.

The water blurred his vision, but he knew the general location of the rifles. He located them rather easily and ripped them off. Surfacing a few moments later, he held up both rifles.

"So that's it?" Lin's voice sounded rather bored.

"Yeah, let's head back." Roland said as he climbed out.

As the sun reached its highest point in the sky, Lin and Roland docked back at the island. The entire area had already vastly improved. Having earth benders do the work was far quicker than any other form of labor, so many of the damages were already repaired.

Roland found Korra in their room sitting idly. "I got ammo." He said as he entered the bed room. He quickly loaded every one of his spare magazines, then slid the rest under his bed. He also placed the Plasma rifles under the bed and then sat there looking at Korra. She had her head turned slightly to the right, allowing Roland to see her scar that ran under her left ear from her encounter with Tarrlok.

She glanced at him, before continuing to star at the city. "There's a chance Katara can heal me, but what if she can't?" Korra asked quietly.

Roland sat down across from her. "I couldn't tell ya." He folded his hands behind his head. "I bet life will go on though… I'll still be here, and you can still airbend."

"But I have been able to bend since I was three!" Korra was terribly saddened by her loss. "It feels like I've lost one of my closest friends."

Roland shrugged as a knock sounded on their door. He stood and walked towards it, but as his footsteps echoed towards the men outside, they smashed it open. Roland's saw the door splinter under a heavy boot and his hand shot towards his pistol. As he gripped the M6C and started to remove it from the holster, a massive man who was the first one in, grabbed his right arm and held it.

Roland took the man in with a glance. He had to be six foot six, and felt like solid rock. He was wearing a suit of metal armor similar to the metal bending police men, but different. It didn't have any symbols or logos, and seemed as if it was more for a fighter than a peace keeper. His belt contained a knife and a few other pouches, but Roland focused on his neck and prepared to lash out.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a slightly smaller man going for Korra, followed by two more. As the first man was airbent into the far wall, a fifth man helped restrain Roland using metal bending as the other two managed to restrain Korra as well. Due to their sheer strength, surprise, and Korra's loss of bending, she was restrained before Roland started to break free.

As he thrashed his arms to get them out of the men's grip, the three others tackled him as well. Suddenly, the Spartan was pinned to the floor unable to move due to the roughly one thousand pounds of human on top of him.

"Stop!" Someone shouted from the doorway. Roland managed to see General Bumi flailing his arms like a mad man. "Are you insane! He could have killed you all!"

The men slowly started to climb off of Roland. One approached Korra cautiously and removed her bonds, only to receive a swift kick in the stomach. His armor shielded him, but the concept was clear. Korra was pissed.

The sharpest looking of the group stepped forward. "No worries, General, we had him under control." He said confidently.

"Sergeant Zhang, please do not ever do such a thing again." Bumi shook his head and walked off.

Korra sat there looking as if she was going to kill someone, but Roland was impressed. "I wasn't really fighting, I figured y'all were the raider unit Bumi spoke of earlier."

The biggest man glanced at him. "The stories made you seem better." He huffed before exiting the cramped room.

"Watch yourself, Dar." One of the other raiders prodded the big guy in the back as they walked out. "The Spartan might eat you."

All of the others followed him out as well until it was just Roland, Korra, and the Sergeant. "Sergeant Zhang." He said, extending his hand towards Roland.

"Spartan Alpha-258, Roland." He shook Zhang's hand firmly.

"Avatar, I am sorry for the disturbance." He nodded to Korra before looking back to Roland. "As the General explained, I am the leader of the Raiders. I believe he has already extended an invitation to you."

Roland nodded. "Yes, I declined for the time being."

"I see." Zhang turned to leave. "We have a situation developing in the Earth Kingdom, thought you could be quite helpful."

"We are headed to the Southern Water Tribe very soon." Roland said. "However, I would be honored to accompany you when we return."

"Sounds like a plan. Nice to meet you ma'am." The sergeant said as he left.

"Hmmph." Korra was not terribly happy about being tackled and tied up, plus without her bending, it was that much worse. "I don't like them."

Roland smiled at her. "You're ticked cause you got beaten. I'm, impressed with these guys."

"So you're honestly going to go with them?" She asked.

Roland thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think I will. It sounds like they could use me."

Korra sulked even more. Without realizing it, Roland had driven her away even more. "I'm going to find the others." She said. "We're leaving tomorrow, so maybe I can help somehow in the clean up."

Roland nodded absentmindedly. Working with the Raiders would be the perfect way to get his mind off Jonah. The rest of the day past by in a blur. He thought of what the situation could be that his help was needed on, and how the rest of this world might look. Unfortunately, he didn't realize how much Korra needed him at this moment and how being lost in thought about the events ahead seemed to Korra as if he was ignoring her and was ready to move on in his life.

**So there ya go. Spoiler for the next chapter, Korra doesn't get her bending back in the south pole. Read and Review! **


	23. Chapter 22

**Alright, here's chapter 22. I am hoping to return to the daily updates to finish the story out. This is still not my stuff. **

**Chapter Twenty Two **

The next day was spent flying towards the Southern Water Tribe. Roland chose to sleep on the sky bison for most of the trip. It was rather uneventful, except for when Jinora chose to jump over board with her glider. Roland had managed to snag her collar and hold on, before it was explained to him that everything was fine. She got quite kick out of it and then Ikki started in as well.

Towards evening, they arrived at the Southern Water Tribe.

"It's bigger than I thought." Roland said from the saddle of Oogi as they prepared to land. The Tribe was surrounded by snow walls, and snow huts were scattered everywhere.

"It is amazing!" Ikki added. "We'll show you all the fun stuff to do."

As soon as they touched down, the kids scattered. They ran to see the few friends they knew and have fun after riding all day. Korra, Roland, Tenzin, Pema, and their new child were greeted by a few members of the Tribe, including a kindly old woman.

"Tenzin, how are you?" She asked.

"I am well mother, although these last few days have been pressing." Tenzin rubbed his temples to try to relieve some of the stress.

Katara hugged Korra. "How was the city?" She asked.

"Oh, Katara, we have a problem." Korra tried her best to keep from breaking into tears. "I've lost my bending"

"Oh dear…" Katara looked to Tenzin for conformation and received a nod. "Well, let's see what we can do." Korra smiled hopefully.

The group headed towards a hut, little attention had been paid to Roland so far. He shivered a bit, because it had to be twenty degrees and he was still in a simple t-shirt. An older man handed him a coat which he put on gladly. Korra and Katara disappeared into a back room for nearly two hours. Not much was said as the group waited, and a few people came and went. Roland noticed a younger white lotus guard sitting nervously in the corner. He had been fidgeting and looking around nervously. Roland decided to keep an eye on him, but just then, the door opened.

Everyone jumped to their feet as Katara walked out. "I've tried everything in my power, but, I cannot restore Korra's bending."

"But you are the best healer in the world, you have to keep trying!" The guard cried.

Everyone glanced at him, but Tenzin spoke to Katara once more. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

"I am sorry, there's nothing else I can do. Korra can still airbend, but her connection with the other elements has been severed." Katara sighed sadly.

Korra walked out, looking almost shell shocked. She glanced around the group as Tenzin placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be all right Korra."

She shrugged his hand away and turned to leave the house. "No, it's not." She said angrily.

She ran out into the cold, but Roland followed her. "Korra, wait." He shouted over the wind.

"Go away." She hissed. Without another word, she took off in a jog for the other side of the tribe.

Tenzin followed them out. He stood beside Roland as he spoke. "We need to be patient with her, it will take time for her to accept what has happened." He said.

Roland watched her running off. "I'm going after her." He decided. Tenzin didn't try to stop him, and the Spartans legs pounded as he ran through the snow. Korra had grown up here and knew how to maneuver through the snow with ease. She started to use her airbending to move even faster.

She didn't know Roland was chasing her, but just wanted to distance herself from everyone. Roland however simply put his head down and charged ahead through the snow. Roland ran for several minutes, crossing through the tribe, and followed the direction Korra had gone until he reached the end of the pack ice. Sweat had started to form under the thick winter jacket as he looked around for Korra.

After a few moments, he noticed her standing on the edge of one hundred foot ice cliff with nothing but ice water below her. She was looking off into the distance so Roland approached her cautiously.

"Korra?" He asked. He knew she was emotional with everything going on, but there didn't seem to be a better course of action.

"Go away." She said again. Her voice was void of emotion, making her sound like a recording.

"I will, but I just want you to know, I'm here for you." He said from a few feet behind her.

Korra didn't even look at him. "No, I mean, go away, back to Republic City, or with the stupid Raiders, or heck, go back to your world. Just get on with your life."

"What are you talking about?" Roland asked.

"I'm not the Avatar anymore. You don't need to do me any favors." She glanced over her shoulder. "Just go join with Bumi. You'll still be fighting, and you'll be happy." Her voice didn't sound right to Roland at all.

"Korra… I" He moved a little closer to her.

"No." Korra cut him off. He could barely hear her over the wind of the rising storm."I have seen how you acted now that you have a chance for a mission to go on." She turned part of her budy towards him and emotions started to come back into her voice. "Is that all I ever was?" Roland saw a tear trail down her cheek. "Was I just a mission to accomplish before you moved on?"

"No Korra, you…" Roland tried to formulate words, but to no avail.

"I have nothing now." Korra cut him off yet again. "Why don't I just jump? No one needs an Avatar with no bending. The next one will come, and everything will be fine." Roland couldn't believe what he was hearing. "It's not like I can bend and save myself. Cold water would be quick." She smiled sadly as she turned to face the deadly drop.

"You know I'll go in after you." Roland said bluntly. His muscles went slightly taught, preparing to act if he needed.

"You can't save the dead, can you?" Korra asked him.

Roland thought for a second. "No, but I'll try anyway."

"Just go away." She started to lean forward slightly.

"Korra no!" Roland shouted as he lunged forward. He wrapped his arms around her core and planted his feet in the snow. With a quick thrust, he jerked them both away from the edge and into the snow a few feet away. "Would you listen to me?" He asked as he rolled on top of her and pinned her to the snow and ice as the wind whipped around them both.

"No, just let me go." Korra struggled weakly.

"I don't care if you're the Avatar or not. Listen to me." Roland said roughly. "When Tarrlok took you the first time, I wasn't really sure how to react, but we found you. Then you almost died anyway, but Jonah and I managed to save you." Korra had started to cry freely at this point, but Roland continued to keep her pinned. "Then Amon took your bending, but it looked like he had killed you, so I killed him, even if it would have ruined our chance, I was going to make him pay."

"Get off." Korra whimpered.

The wind wailed loudly, so Roland had to yell to be heard. "Then, Tarrlok got you again. He chained me to a post." He held up one of his wrists for her to see the raw skin as the snow flurried around them. "I still haven't healed from trying to break those chains. I was losing my mind at the thought of you dying right in front of me and me never getting to say this to you."

Roland relaxed a bit. "Without Jonah, I couldn't have, yet another thing I owe him." He looked into to her tear filled eyes. "Korra, I love you."

Korra turned her face away, pressing it into the snow to hide it from Roland. He released his grip and sat back, being careful to not sit on her. "Not too long ago, you said you were falling in love with me. Not only that, but you explained why, I don't think that was fake."

Korra finally looked up at him. "I'm sorry!" She finally said. "There is nothing for you to love."

Roland just looked at her for a moment. This was not one of the most romantic situations. Her pinned below him with almost hurricane winds whipping them both. "I don't love you because you can bend, or because you're the Avatar." He yelled. "I love you for who you are, nothing else." Roland offered to help her to her feet.

"What about my bending?" Korra asked as she stood to her feet. "I'll never get it back."

"So? We can still be together. The world can solve its own issues." Roland wrapped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly. The wind beat at them both, but they won.

Korra smiled happily for the first time in two days. "I love you too." She sighed before kissing him again. "So what are we going to do then, Sifu Roland?" She asked eventually.

Roland smiled at the nickname. "First, we are going to go back to the tribe, and not mention this at all. From there, I'm not really sure yet."

Korra nodded and the two of them walked hand in hand back towards the Southern Water Tribe.

The storm was starting to subside as they enter the tribe once more. A few people stood around looking rather worried. Katara and Tenzin were two of them, but also a younger woman and man. They looked to be in the late thirties or early forties, and both perked up when they saw the two walking in. "Korra!" The lady shouted through the dying winds.

"Mom?" Korra took off running towards them. She wrapped her parent's in a hug. "I missed you so much!" She cried.

"We missed you too." Her father said as he placed his hand onto her the back of her head to hold her closely.

Katara smiled warmly at the family reunion. "There's someone I want you to meet!" Korra said as she pulled away from her parents. She grabbed Roland by the hand and pulled him over. "This is Roland, he has saved me several times, and is kinda my boyfriend."

Katara eyed him warily before glancing at Tenzin. Korra's mother spoke first. "It is a pleasure to meet you." she said. "I am Senna, Korra's mother."

Her father looked him over. "I am Korra's father, Tonraq. I trust Korra's judgment, please to meet you, Roland." He bowed slightly.

"Thank you, sir." Roland said, returning his bow.

"I don't know…" Katara walked forward a poked Roland a few times. "You don't carry yourself as a bender."

Roland shrugged. "I'm not." He said.

Everyone was slightly surprised. "Korra, he's not a bender?" Her father asked.

She smiled slightly. "No, but he is far better." She pulled him close and leaned up to kiss him.

"KORRA!" Someone shouted as he tackled Roland from behind. It was the white lotus guard from before. He managed to tackle Roland to the ground and held and ice spear over his neck.

"Suko, you need to get off him right now." Korra said cautiously. She glanced at Roland to ensure he wasn't about to kill the young man.

"I'll get off him when he stops trying to kiss my girlfriend!" He shouted.

Roland glanced at Korra. "How's that?" He asked stupefied.

Korra crossed her arms. "Suko, he is my boyfriend." She motioned to the two of them "We were never together."

Suko seemed to be considering killing Roland anyway. "But we had a romantic dinner and everything!"

Korra sighed. "You brought me a drink after practice once."

"And you took it!" Suko cried as if that meant something.

Roland looked up at Korra, silently asking permission. "Suko, if you don't get off, bad things are about to happen."

"I heard Katara; he's not even a bender!" Both of Roland's arms shot up and grabbed the kids wrists, restraining them and preventing him from using the spear. Before Suko could react, Roland jerked him down and smashed his head into his own. After the head butt dazed him, Roland rolled on top of the kid with his knife drawn and placed onto his neck. Everyone was taken aback by the reaction.

"I have no quarrel with you." Roland sighed as he lowered the kinfe. "You heard Korra, she chose, now scram."

Suko stood to his feet cautiously. "Never!" He shouted as he tried to bend a wall of ice into Roland. The M6C was of his hip and aimed before anyone realized the ice wasn't moving.

"I think that is enough Suko." Katara sighed, blocking his water from moving.

The young man glanced about before retreating. "We will be together!" He shouted as he ran off.

Roland just looked at Korra. "You never mentioned him before."

She blushed. "He had a crush on me since we was transferred here at sixteen. Nothing ever came of it."

"Does he know that?" Roland asked.

"No, but you can take him." Korra smiled.

The group moved indoors where Roland's story was shared followed by the events of the last several months.

"And you approve of him?" Korra's father asked Tenzin, referring to Roland.

Tenzin looked at the Spartan for a moment. "Yes, I do." He said. "He has more honor and sense of duty than any other person I know."

"So, you don't mind that he's not a bender?" Korra asked cautiously.

Her father looked at Roland once more. "If the stories are true, then no, not at all. He seems to be a fine young man."

Korra smiled broadly and nearly crushed Roland in a hug. "So, you want to go inform Suko?" Roland asked her.

She was still smiling. "I guess since it is official, I should." Korra stood, grabbed her jacket, and disappeared into the cold.

A few moments after she left, Roland directed a question at her father. "Sir, I know this is a lot at once, but I would like to ask your permission to marry your daughter."

Her father didn't seem terribly surprised at all. He looked at his wife and she barely nodded. "I would have thought she would marry a bender, but I trust that you can handle her." He looked to Tenzin once more for approval. "I thought this day would come far sooner, but I would be honored if you would marry my daughter."

Roland seemed to be at ease now that the question was answered. "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

They chatted idly until Korra entered the room once more. "Alright, Suko understands, although not very happily."

"So, what are your plans now?" Her mother asked.

Korra looked to Tenzin for an answer. "We go back to Republic City. My father may still be able to help Korra through meditation."

Everyone nodded. "So when do we leave?" Korra asked.

"Tomorrow. We need to get back to the cleaning effort."

"So soon?" Korra's mother asked.

"Yes, we will leave at dawn." Tenzin stood. "Have a good evening." He and Katara left.

Roland was given a bedding area in the main room and Korra was to sleep in her old room. Once her parents had gone to bed, she continued to sit beside Roland.

"Will you go with the Raiders?" Korra asked.

Roland shrugged. "Not if you threaten to jump off an ice flow again." Korra grimaced at the thought. "It is your call; I think I could help greatly."

Korra thought for a moment. "Well, I'll be trying to regain my bending, so there is not much for you to do." She looked at him longingly. "Just don't die, okay?"

Roland reached up and took her chin in his hand. "I promise." He said he pulled her in for a kiss.

**What do you think? I don't want Korra getting her bending back quite yet, so the attempted suicide scene fit in quite well. Korra would have grown up with bending and it would be all she had ever known, so having it removed and then knowing that even the best healer in the world couldn't restore it would be crushing. Not only that, but the fact the Roland was interested in going out on another mission would have just added to it. **

**Then I also worked in Suko, the love sick white lotus guard. In case you didn't realize this, Korra is not a bad looking girl, so I don't think it would be out of the ordinary for a guy to have a crush on her. Attacking a Spartan wasn't the best idea and could have been deadly for him, but it worked out okay. **

**So, let me know what you think by reviewing! Like I said at the top, I am hoping to return to the daily updates until I finish. **


	24. Chapter 23

**Ch23 for your reading enjoyment. Still not mine. **

**Chapter Twenty Three**

Roland had been able to get into contact with Commander Bumi quickly after their return and he was now moving through the berthing space of the flagship. He smiled as he ducked under the bulkhead and turned right down a long hallway as he had been directed. Uniformed personnel moved all about him on their daily duties, and Roland thought back to his time aboard UNSC Frigates. It felt good to be back in a place filled with other fighters.

Roland followed the hallway until it ended. A closed metal door stood before him, with "Raiders" carved into the paint. It looked as if it had been painted over and re-carved several times in the past, but the sailors had finally given up.

He slid the water tight door open and he stepped into the dark room. Several of the men who had tackled him a few days before glanced his way. They were all seated facing a map that was hung on the far wall. Roland recognized it as a map of the world. Sergeant Zhang stood in front of them all with a knife in hand. "Spartan, glad you could join us."

Roland nodded politely before setting his pack in the corner. "Go ahead and take a seat with Team Two." Zhang pointed to the left side of the room. All of the men who had attacked him sat there, plus an empty seat directly in the middle.

Roland sat down and ignored the glances that he got from everyone in the room. Sergeant Zhang continued. "We will be sailing along the coast for one day before reaching this inlet." The sergeant jabbed his knife into a point on the map. It was an inlet going into the Earth Kingdom that had several large mountains on the left side. "The cult group is in the mountainous region near this peak. We'll go in, locate them, and destroy the area."

"You still haven't told us who these people are." One guy said from the back of the room.

Zhang nodded. "This group is a cult. They refer to themselves as Hok. Intel doesn't have much on the situation, but we are going in anyway. It seems that these people worship some type of spiritual stone, but we'll see what happens." He paused for a moment. "These people are the ones responsible for the terrorist attack on the fire nation last week."

Everyone nodded grimly. "Seems a bit like a suicide mission, don't it?" Dar, the big man who had restrained Roland asked.

"If it wasn't they wouldn't be sending us. We are leaving any…" The ship lurched underneath them and started underway. "Now actually. Team one, on me, Dar, take team two above decks for some practice with the Spartan."

The big man nodded. "Follow me." He said as he stood to his feet. Roland and three others stood with him and moved through the corridors.

"So you're the Spartan?" one man asked from behind him. Roland turned to see a skinnier guy that was around six feet tall. He had a few scars across his cheeks and his right hand was red from a recent burn.

"Yeah, I'm Roland." He said as he ducked under a bulk head.

"Leton. I'm the demolitions expert." He placed his hand to the top of the bulk head to go under and Roland noticed that the recent burn extended up his arm.

"Accident?" He asked, referring to the burn.

Leton shrugged, but the man behind him spoke next. "You could call it that. He got a little overzealous with the powder count. Thankfully I was able to heal the burn quickly."

"Yeah, I still say it was a bad fuse." Leton grinned a bit. "This is Krok, our medic and also a pretty decent water bender." The group paused at a ladder well as several sailors moved past.

"Nice to meet ya." Roland shook Kork's hand. The man was Roland's height, but a little stockier. He was definitely of water tribe decent as shown by his blue eyes and tanned skin. He had an iron grip that Roland happily returned, and seemed to be a pleasant guy and Roland mentally made a note to talk with him about a betrothal necklace.

Each took their turn climbing the ladder, then they moved down a few more corridors until finally they emerged onto the aft section of the ship. Republic city was still easily visible in the background, but it was fading quickly into a mist. Dar led them to an open section of deck where everyone formed a semi circle. Roland fell right in line with the group. "Well, you've already met those two." Dar said pointing at Leton and Krok. "We sorta met a few days back, and you might remember Sehdon." Roland recognized the other man who had restrained him. This was the one who was obviously a metal bender due to the cables he had used to keep Roland at bay momentarily.

"So, you can't bend, can ya?" Sehdon asked. He was a bit shorter, maybe five foot ten, but looked as solid as the metal he could control. His black hair was cut regulation short and he stood with an air of I can take on the world and win.

Roland shook his head. "Nope, I'm just a pretty normal guy."

A pair of sailor got into a shouting match by the anit aircraft gun above them, but no one paid much attention. "I told you the Avatar would lose!" One shouted.

"She didn't lose, Amon died, she just lost her bending!"

"So she lost!"

Roland ignored the rest of the conversation. "So can you all bend?"

Dar nodded for the group. "An earth bender, metal bender, fire bender, water bender, and you." He said as he pointed at each prospective person. "Seems like a decent group."

Roland nodded. "I think we'll turn out just fine."

"Alright, Krok, take him behind the turret and go over a few of the finer points of you position with him. We'll be doing a few drills."

Krok led the way and sat Roland down in a gun turret. "You look like you have something to ask me." The waterbender said kindly.

Roland removed a small piece of stone he had been carving. "I know this is not mission oriented, but I need to ask you about betrothal necklaces."

Krok's eyes widened a bit. "So you're gonna marry the Avatar?" Roland nodded as Krok took the stone. "Well, it ain't much. You seem to have a decent start. Just finish carving something she likes into it and attach a band for a necklace. It supposed to be a handmade thing is all I really know."

"Something approaching aft!" A watchman shouted.

Roland and Krok looked up to see a flying bison gaining on the ship quickly. The Spartan shook his head. Korra had said she was coming to see him off once more, but he figured once the ship got underway that she had decided against it. Instead, one of the air temple bison landed next to the group.

"You turd! You said it would be a while before you left." Korra said as she jumped off. An air acolyte remained at the reigns as Korra hugged Roland tightly." I thought I was going to miss you. Please be careful." She whispered.

"Korra, I'll be fine." Roland grinned. "You focus on getting in touch with Aang or whatever, I can handle this."

Korra smiled sadly. She had lost enough already, and really did not want to lose Roland as well. "Just don't do anything crazy." She said before kissing him. "Or else I will kill you."

Roland kissed her once more. It was short and Korra frowned when he broke the kiss. "We need to get to our stations." Roland sighed.

Korra nodded. "I'll see you soon." She said as a command, not a question. The air acolyte helped her aboard and prepared to lift off.

"You had better blow me away with water bending when I get back." Roland laughed. Korra smiled at him once more and blew him a kiss as the sky bison took off into the wind.

Roland looked back at his team. Krok grinned broadly and Leton just shook his head. "I figured the stories were just that, stories, but you really are with the Avatar, aren't you?" Leton asked.

"No retard, she just kisses random people." Sehdon came back.

Leton shrugged. "Eh, either way it is a good or bad sign. Either the Spirits are gonna be with us, or completely against us."

"She is pretty good looking…" Krok commented.

Leton rolled his eyes. "Of course she is, she's the Avatar."

Roland shook his head and looked at Dar. "Alright fellas let's head below." He said. Apparently Korra had ruined whatever training was supposed to happen, but Roland didn't mind too much.

He followed the group back through the corridors and into their room. Each man flopped onto a bunk, but Roland took out his gear and made one more check of it. Even though it was daytime, many of the men slept for most of the journey. They understood that when it kicked off, sleeping wouldn't be an option. Before falling to sleep, Roland worked on Korra's necklace some more. He had found the perfect grey stone to use, and had carved half of a UNSC eagle and globe onto the left side. As he killed time, he carved the other half to look like the wavy symbol of the water nation. He finished by taking a piece of olive drab strapping and attaching it to the grey stone. He held it up in the dim ship light and decided it would do just fine.

Before dozing for a bit, Roland placed the necklace into his pocket for safe keeping.

Two dozen hours later, Zhang started to awaken everyone. "Get your gear on and set to go." He said in a commanding yet quiet voice. Roland snapped his armor into place with ease and was set to move in less than five minutes. After resting for nearly a day, he was more than ready to move.

Each of the other men put on their own armor and weapons. Roland was happy to see that these men seemed to know what they were doing as well. Sergeant Zhang led them deeper into the ship, until they reached the hull. A small craft awaited them, but Roland was confused at how they would insert. There were no doors offering access to the ocean and they seemed to be more or less in the center of the ship.

"Everyone aboard." Zhang said. Roland took a seat next to Leton and the Raiders prepared to insert. Krok and another water bender stood at the front and rear of the craft, and then Sehdon stood up. With a wave of his hand, he ripped open the hull of the ship and their small craft was whisked out. Krok and the other water bender sustained an air bubble around the group allowing them to breath.

As they floated away, Roland noticed the hole seal up and then saw the massive ship propellers pass over head. The wake caused the small submerged craft to toss about momentarily, but the water benders kept it under control. After a few moments, they started to bend and move the unit towards shore.

Not long after that, the craft struck the sand of the shore line. They were still at least eight feet below the water, but Zhang had everyone disembark. Again, with the water benders for help, they walked forward and onto the beach.

As soon as they reached the shoreline, everyone sprinted for the cover of the tree line. They paused for twenty minutes to ensure no one had seen them before Zhang rallied everyone on him. "Alright, team one on point, let's move out."

The group advanced through the woods and into the mountains. Roland kept his helmet operation on the most minimal functions to preserve battery life, but still scanned his sectors.

It took the better part of the day, but after scaling the first ridgeline, Zhang called a halt once more. "Alright, everyone eyes up, let's see if we can spot anything."

Dusk was falling, and all of the Raiders spread out over the hilltop to see if anything could be spotted. After nearly an hour, one of the men from team one spoke up. "Sergeant, I've got a fire."

Zhang moved to the man's position, and sure enough, across the valley there was a fire. Once more, the Raiders fell back on their team leader. "Alright, we'll start on that fire. Team one will advance…"

"What the…" Leton cut the Sergeant off as he stood up. A massive flaming star seemed to be falling from the sky directly towards the mountains.

"What is that?" Sehdon asked in awe.

Roland zoomed in on it and couldn't believe his HUD. The display simply read "Corvette, Covenant." He blinked once just to be sure. "That is a problem…"

Zhang looked at him. "What kind of problem?" The corvette crashed two ridges over. The impact shook everything in the area.

"Those are the ones trying to erase humanity." Roland explained. "I need to get there quickly to see what is going on. Maybe I can contain the worst of them."

Zhang nodded. "Alright, team one will advance on the fire. Team two, move to that crash and secure it, then rally with us at that fire."

Dar nodded. "You head him, let's go fix the soldiers problem." He led the team in a light jog towards the crash. The moon was high in the sky when Roland finally laid eyes on it. The broken and crushed Corvette had cut a swath through the trees on the opposite hillside. It had finally rested just inside of the valley. A few fires had broken out, but otherwise the ship was intact.

"Alright, let's go check it out." Roland whispered. He clicked the safety off his M7S and led the way into the valley.

He stayed on point as they approached the ship. The deep purple looked completely out of place in the green woods, but the scorched black earth made it stand out all the more. The ship laid in the valley almost like a beached whale waiting to die.

"Spirits…" Sehdon whispered. He placed his hand gingerly onto the cooling metal before bending some of it away. "I have never felt anything like this before."

Roland glanced about yet again. His senses were on ten, and he was ready for some sort of attack. "Can you get us inside?" He asked.

Sehdon responded with making a door sized hole in the exterior of the ship. Roland clicked on his helmet light and entered cautiously. He boot sagged as he stepped into the carcass of a Jackel. He glanced down each side of the corridor before motioning for Leton and Dar to follow him. Plasma dribbled out of a coolant valve as the trio moved forward. Krok and Sehdon followed a few paces behind. Dead Grunts and Jackels were everywhere, but so far no living Covenant had been seen.

"This should be the hanger bay." Roland whispered as he approached a large doorway. It sighed open and Roland entered the dimly lit hanger.

"Help me… please…" A human moaned from the center of the room. He was illuminated by a light from a resting Pelican, but something didn't seem right.

Krok had started to move forward, but Roland grabbed his wrist. "Take cover." He hissed. The entire group ducked down behind a low wall.

"What is it?" Dar asked cautiously.

Roland peaked his head up. Human weapons were scattered about, but no bodies. "Help me!" The man cried again.

"Something doesn't seem right." Roland reached up and activated his VISR. It took a moment, but three green outlines appeared on the far side of the room."Stay down" Roland motioned as he stepped from cover. He turned the volume to maximum on his helmet before speaking. "I am Spartan Alpha dash two five eight. I am friendly!" He walked forward a few more steps, but no one moved.

Finally a deep voice spoke. "A Spartan, huh? Well, you're kitted up like one at least." Roland watched as a massive man left cover to walk slowly towards him.

He held an MA5B assault rifle like it was a play thing as he approached Roland. "Noble Five, Jorge- 052" He slid off his helmet and extended his hand.

Roland depolarized his visor so Jorge could see his face. "Roland, Alpha dash two five eight. Headhunter."

"Ohho… so that's what you are." Jorge motioned for the other to come out of cover. A pair of UNSC Marines came out and helped their "wounded" comrade to his feet. They were all wearing fully sealed combat suits, allowing them to operate in zero gravity. "You're one of those four Spartans that went missing a few months back." Jorge took a knee, but Roland continued to scan.

"Yeah, Jonah is dead." He glanced up into the high ceiling of the hanger bay.

Jorge smiled. "Would you relax. The ships is more than clear. The hanger was the only section of the ship that was still environmentally sealed when we jumped. Anything else is vacuum packed right now."

"So what happen to you?" Roland asked.

"It isn't good, Reach is under attack. We used the Savannah's slipspace drive as a bomb to destroy a Covenant Super Carrier, but instead of death, it brought us here."

Roland eyed a shotgun longingly as Jorge spoke. Finally he gave in and picked it up. "Well, I'm still not sure how I got here, but I think we all are stuck." He picked up a few dozen shells for the shotgun.

"What is this place?" One of the Marines asked.

Roland grinned through his depolarized visor. "You'll find out soon enough. We need to rally with the rest of our team. Grab all of the ammo and weapons you can carry and follow us outside." Roland started handing weapons to Team Two. They knew well enough what these could do, so they were more than happy to bring them along. "Anyone wearing what these guys are wearing is friendly." Roland added, motioning to the Raiders.

Each Marine shouldered all he could carry, and Jorge grabbed a SPNKr Tube and a dozen rockets along with a SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper rifle. Roland smirked a bit when the Spartan II stepped out with all that gear. He grabbed a pair of plasma grenades off a dead grunt before leading the procession out of the fallen ship.

"So what's the plan?" Jorge asked.

"We need to rally up. There is a cult in the area, and that is our mission. Team One already started towards it." Roland scanned the night sky.

"Let's step it off then." Dar huffed. He led the group back to where the first fire had been seen. A pair of dead bodies laid near the cooling coals and an arrow had been made out of a few logs pointing towards the peak of the mountain.

Roland kept his VISR on as the neared the peak. Off to his left, a small crevice seemed to be out of place. As he neared it, a smaller arrow pointed into it, obviously left by team one. "Alright, stash the unneeded gear," He hissed. "we're going in."

**There you go, who is the enemy inside of the cavern ahead? What do you think of Jorge's appearance? Read and Review!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Ch24. It feels like I just updated, but it has been a whole day already. My schedule is all screwed up right now. Either way, I hope you like it and it is not my stuff.**

**Chapter Twenty Four **

Korra relaxed on the veranda for the third time that day. She had been meditating on and off all day, trying to build a spiritual connection with Aang. So far, nothing was working at all. She sat cross legged and started to inhale deeply. She didn't notice the "shooting star" entering the atmosphere miles away, but instead focused on what Tenzin had taught her. She sat there inhaling and exhaling for nearly an hour with no results.

Finally Korra tugged at her hair in irritation as she fell back onto the wooden floor. "What's wrong with me!" She sighed loudly as she smashed her fist into the wood. "Aang, would you please just show up!" A set of footsteps echoed across the floor a moment later. "Not now Tenzin." She sighed.

"But you called me here." A voice said from above her. "All you had to do was ask."

Korra opened her eyes to see the former Avatar, Aang of the Air Nation standing over her grinning. Even in his older days, he had still kept much of a youthful look. His smile tugged at his beard, but Korra was instantly glad to see him. "YES!" She shouted as she jumped to her feet and pumped her fist into the air.

Aang laughed a bit. "You have finally connected with your spiritual self." He informed her.

Korra finally relaxed a bit. "How?" She asked.

"Part of it is simply because you finally asked. That shows that you understand that you cannot do it all on your own." Aang took a seat on a bench and motioned for Korra to do the same. "Another is the fact that a great evil is about to take place, this knowledge was in you subconsciously and greatly helped in calling me here."

"What is going to happen?" Korra asked.

"The Solstice is coming up tomorrow." Aang said solemnly.

"So?" Korra knit her brow in confusion.

Aang chuckled once more. "You really didn't pay attention in any of your spiritual classes, did you?" Korra shook her head proudly before Aang continued. "The Solstice is the time when the Spirit world and physical world are closest together. A certain Spirit may be attempting to enter the physical world to wreak havoc."

"Why would he want to do such a thing?" Korra asked.

"It is Koh, the face stealer." Korra remembered bits and pieces from learning about him. "The last Water Tribe born Avatar, Kuruk lost his wife to Koh. He tirelessly went after the Spirit, but to no avail. It is my belief, that Koh views you in the same light as Kuruk. After all, you are the same person."

"So what does that mean" Korra inquired.

Aang stroked his beard in thought. "I believe Koh will attempt to put you through the same struggle Kuruk had. He is going to try to steal Roland's face."

"No!" Korra jumped to her feet. "He won't be able to. Roland is on a mission to clear out a cult group."

Aang nodded solemnly. "That cult worships Koh as god. The cave they use is an active portal into the Spirit world. Koh has been receiving sacrifices from the cult, and on the Solstice, he may choose to remain here as long as he can."

Korra looked around. "I need to get there to warn him."

Aang stood up as well. He placed his hand onto her forehead and held it for a moment. "I'll help you even more. You're bending is restored to its fullest."

Korra felt as if she was completed for a moment before she shot a flame out of her fist to affirm that her bending was really back. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Remember, Koh has to see expression to steal a face, but he can cause pain in the physical world. Few people can handle an attack from him."

Korra nodded. "One last thing." She said. "How did Roland get here?"

Aang smiled yet again. "That young Avatar, you will discover soon enough." As the last words left his lips, he vanished. Korra looked at where he had been standing for a moment before shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

She quickly ran back towards the Temple, passing by Bolin and Ikki in a heated game of Pai Sho. Korra nearly ran Tenzin into the ground as she rounded a corner. "Tenzin I need to go!" She said.

"Hold on now, what is wrong." Tenzin said, taking her by the shoulders.

Korra sighed loudly and produced fire from her right hand while drawing water out of a fountain with her left. "My bending is back, but I have to go help Roland."

Tenzin was overjoyed, but wanted answers. "Why do you need to go?"

Korra pulled away slightly. "Aang warned me about Koh and Roland." She said quickly before breaking Tenzin's grasp.

"Be careful!" He shouted after her.

Korra grabbed a glider and prayed that the one practice session she had was enough. Taking a running start, she jumped off a cliff high about the water and started to air bend as she had been shown. Within moments, she was not just gliding, but flying through the air and gaining altitude. She knew the general vicinity of where Roland was, and trusted her instincts to locate him.

**Back in the mountains. **

Roland enjoyed having another Spartan alongside him as he moved forward into the darkness. He had never crossed paths with a Spartan II, but the knowledge that the man next to him was actually better trained than himself was quite comforting. His VISR cast everything into the odd colors he had grown accustom to and he kept the shotgun shouldered and ready to fire.

Slowly, he noticed a light deep inside of the cave. The two Spartans, three Marines, and four Raiders moved stealthily into what became a massive cavern and took cover behind several large stalagmites. Dozens of people dressed in black were at the far side facing a small passage that seemed to lead deeper into the mountain. Roland glanced around and noticed that it looked like a fight had broken out where they were hiding. Chunks of rock were gone and scorch marks pocketed the walls.

"What happen here?" Jorge whispered as he felt a damp spot on the ground from where a water bender had used an attack.

Roland looked at Dar. "Looks like the first team was compromised."

Dar nodded, but Leton was the one to speak up. "Good thing we brought friends." He motioned to Jorge and the three Marines.

Roland nodded in agreement before he moved along the wall. As they closed in on the group, he noticed the members of team one tied or restrained in different ways. Each man was surrounded by at least three of the black clad cult members. The rest of the cult had gathered around an altar of sorts that they had laid one of the Raiders on. Every one of them wore a mask that showed nothing but their eyes, very similar to the one Amon had worn.

The one who looked to be the leader raised his hands and a chant was started. The people circled the altar, waving snake like cylinders and chanting in some unknown language. "What is going on?" One of the Marines whispered.

Roland shrugged, but Sehdon was able to answer. "They are calling out some type of spirit." He listened for a few more seconds. "I can't tell who or why, but they are definitely trying to call a spirit out of the spirit world."

Jorge looked back at the metalbender. "What in the heck are you talking about?" He asked.

As Sehdon opened his mouth to reply, the ground started to tremble. A faint light started to grow brighter from the dark end of the cavern. Slowly it grew, until it was the size of a tank, at that point, a shadow appeared, blocking most of the light, but allowing some to bleed around it.

Roland slid the shotgun onto the magnetic plate on his back and withdrew his M7S. "What the heck it that thing?" He hissed. His VISR flickered and outline the looming object with flashing red. His HUD read "TARGET UNKNOWN : LIKELY HOSTILE."

Krok sat there with his mouth agape. "It can't be…" He whispered.

"What is it?" Roland depolarized his visor and glared at the water bender.

"They called out a spirit…" Sehdon made sure he was crouched as low as he could.

"Don't show emotion!" Zhang shouted over the rumbling of the cavern. The Raider who was sprawled across the altar forced his face to go blank. All of the cult members had fallen face first toward the massive object. They continued to moan and chant in the ancient tongue as a centipede like body that was at least six feet wide and fifty feet long crawled forward. The exoskeleton was jet black and covered with ridges and spines. It continued to move forward and wrapped around the altar once. The "head" reared back, but Roland couldn't see any type of face or mouth.

"Yet another soldier, but still not the one of the Avatar's affection." Said the beast. It's voice dripped with venom and echoed menacingly around the cavern, mixing in with the continuous chanting of the cult members. The cult leader said something different and Koh seemed to nod his head.

The Spartan III felt several eyes resting on him and turned to see the Raiders glaring at him. "The Avatar's affection?" Krok hissed. "He wants you!"

Roland shuddered a bit and turned back to Koh. He could now see a dreadful face of a man, but it looked completely out of place on the rest of the body. The location of the face was framed by dozens of short spikes and Roland almost couldn't believe his eyes as the entire face seemed to blink and the dreadful man's face was replaced with that of a beautiful woman.

"What's the matter soldier?" The voice now sounded as smooth as silk, completely opposite to the beast that it was attached to. "Afraid to show a little emotion?" The Raider kept a straight face, but his body was quivering in fear.

"So what do we do?" Roland asked to others.

"That is Koh. Legend is that if you show emotion, he can steal your face…" Krok remembered. "I have never heard of anyone trying to kill him or defeat him though."

Roland nodded. "You three." He pointed to the Marines. "Maximum polarization on your helmets. If he can't see ya, it should be fine."

"AHH!" Everyone looked as the Raider screamed. Koh had smashed one of his spine like legs into the man's stomach. He screamed, but it was cut off as Koh's head enveloped his own. The man's legs kicked and thrashed, but a few moments later, Koh backed away. He now wore the face of the Raider with an evil smile plastered across it, and the body continued to jolt back and forth like a man who was choking to death.

"Perfect." Koh sighed. His voice was now that of the dead warrior below him. "Who is next?"

A pair of cult members grabbed Sergeant Zhang next and dragged him forward. Instead of trying him to the altar, they just held him between them. "A perfect specimen, but still not the one." Koh looked the man over.

"Alright, we need to go now." Roland detached the sniper rifle from Jorge's back. "You three, set up a base of fire. Make sure to cover each other's reloads." The Marines nodded. "Raiders, send whatever attacks you can from distance. I don't want you closing in and getting killed."

Jorge hefted the SPNKr tube onto his shoulder. "You remind me of Thom." He said. "Taking charge on the spot. I'm guess we're gonna close with and destroy?"

Roland nodded. "Exactly. Try to aim for the face, that seems like a weak spot." Jorge nodded and clicked off the manual safety. Roland leveled the sniper rifle on the face of Koh. He now wore the face of a serpent, trying to scare an emotion out of Zhang. He cranked his helmet speakers up to the highest possible and took a deep breath. He leveled the crosshair on the eye of the serpent face and started to apply pressure to the trigger. "ON THE GROUND!" He shouted as he fired the first shot off.

Zhang went limp and dropped as low as he could. The three Marines darted from cover and started cranking rounds off into the crowd of cult members in short controlled bursts. The Marines had been trained well and didn't panic and fire aimlessly into the people, but instead their accurately fired 7.62mm bullets cut through the people like they were paper. The cult leader shouted some sort of profanity in their ancient tongue and started trying to direct a counter attack.

A chunk of rock impacted him in the chest and knocked him to the ground. Dar and Sehdon were both launching a barrage of small projectiles into the crowd. Jorge had darted off to the right and took aim with the rocket. With a loud woosh, the rocket left the tube and sped towards Koh. He was reeling back in pain from Roland's first sniper rifle bullet ruining his face. He switched to the one of the torn up man just before the rocket impacted just behind his head, slightly cracking his exoskeleton.

"What is this!" He shouted. Jorge sent another rocket into the beast. This time, he reacted by sacrificing one of his legs to detonate the rocket prematurely. At this point, Roland had emptied the sniper rifles magazine and so he dropped it and rolled out of cover. He withdrew his M7S and sprayed a burst towards Koh.

"Loading!" One of the Marines cried as he slammed a new magazine into his MA5B. The three had set themselves in an arrow formation, firing into whatever moved ahead of them. Koh looked at them and sprinted forward. Roland couldn't believe how fast the beast could move, but within seconds, he had smashed into the trio of Marines. Two managed to dodge out of the way, but the third was trampled by multiple spiked legs, killing him.

At this point, the surviving cult members also started to retaliate. They charged towards the Raiders, using bending of their own. One of the Marines engaged them from the ground as Roland also sprayed into the crowd. Koh looked and saw one of the tied men from team one. He was making a face of irritation as he tried to remove his bonds. He glanced up and realized his error just as Koh removed his face as well.

As Koh relaxed back, Jorge grabbed onto his mid section. He was unable to get his arms around the spirit, but instead forced his hands into one of the layers of the exoskeleton. He pried it back much to Koh's irritation. The black scale like substance oozed as it was pried away, causing Koh to buck and thrash, but the Spartan II held on easily. He pulled one hand back and primed a plasma grenade. As he prepared to thrust it into opening, Koh smashed his head into the Spartan's armor, finally dislodging him. The plasma grenade flew out of his hand and through the air. It settled on the ground next to the Raiders who were still fighting. Dar kicked up the ground around it and launched it way from them as it detonated harmlessly in the air.

Jorge removed an MA5B as he stood and started hosing down the exoskeleton but the bullets skipped off as if it was titanium plating. Koh used his back end of his body to wrap the Spartan in thick coil. Jorge tried kicking with his knee or anything to get free, but to no avail.

At the same time, Roland had the two surviving Marines start to evac out of the cave. Dar and Sehdon ran forward and grabbed Zhang and the other man from team one as Leton fired past them. He withdrew a small explosive charge from his satchel, lit it and tossed it towards several cult members who were earth bending towards them. The explosion brought down part of the ceiling on top of them.

Even while holding Jorge, Koh lunged out and pinned both Sehdon and the other man to the ground with his legs. Sehdon tried to throw an earth shield around his fellow warrior, but Koh smashed it aside. The man was already in pain, and the addition of two more legs caused a small facial expression. It was enough and Koh stole his face. He quickly turned his attention to Sehdon.

The metal bender kept his face straight, until Koh pulled the faceless and bloody body on top of him. The man was still thrashing from not being able to breathe. Koh's face hovered over Sehdon and finally, he gagged a bit. Koh wasted no time in harvesting his face as well. Roland turned from directing everyone out to see the two lifeless bodies.

Leton grabbed Zhang's arm and Dar grabbed the other as they ran out. Krok followed flanked by both Marine's who continued to fire into the cavern. Once Roland was sure they would be clear, he ran towards the spirit. Koh had now turned his attention to Jorge. He was attempting to use his legs to remove Jorge's helmet, but it wasn't working.

Roland emptied his M7S to attract Koh's attention. He turned and slid the face of a strange blue beast into place before lashing out. Roland had time to drop his M7S and pull the shotgun from his back. As Koh lunged forward, Roland fired, removing one of his legs. He continued firing, pressing Koh back slightly with each blast until a dreadful sound came from the shotgun. _Click _Roland released the shotgun and reached for his pistol, but Koh finally grabbed him. His body bled from a few places where the shotgun had removed legs, but the Spirit was more than capable of giving a good fight.

As Roland was squeezed, some of the black blood smeared across his armor and body suit. Immediately, a burning sensation like acid could be felt through the body suit. Koh blinked Sehdon's face into place as he restrained the Spartan. Roland felt one of the legs touch the chin of his helmet and felt it start to be lifted away. "Come now…" Koh hissed. His breath was putrid and nearly caused Roland to vomit. "Just show me a little face."

"Easy Spartan." Jorge shouted. "Just like formation."

Roland smiled in his mind. If his instructors couldn't do anything, the beast couldn't either. Instead of just submitting, Roland started to speak. "Why are you even here?" He asked. His voice was completely monotone, and he glared off into infinity.

"Face's…" Koh sighed. He switched to one of an earthbender and two seconds later he switched to the woman again. "The Spirit world has avoided me with a passion." Koh dragged one of his legs across Roland's jaw line, but didn't get the expression he desired. "The Spartan…" Koh drawled. "You are the one that this new Avatar loves so much." He switched to the face of some sort of large bird before continuing. "Your face would be a wonderful addition to my collection. So strong and hard, it could be of great use to me." Roland shuddered, but still no expression came to his face.

"Koh!" A voice shouted from the entrance. Korra stood defiantly before them. "Put him down." Her voice was filled with rage and anticipation of a fight.

"Korra, I have it under control." Roland said with a glance in her direction.

"The Avatar…" Koh sized her up from a distance. "It has been many years since I added an Avatar to my collection."

Korra raised her fists. "It's gonna be even longer." She grinned broadly before running forward and launching a blast of fire at Koh's face.

Roland nearly made an expression of joy when he saw that her bending was back, but continued to hold it back. Koh had dedicated nearly half of his body to restraining the two Spartans, but still moved to fight the Avatar.

He simply absorbed her attacks as if they were nothing, and pinned her to the ground. Roland kicked his knee and tried to wriggle out but still Koh leaned down to take Korra's face as well. "No!" Roland managed to free one hand and his M6C. He riddled Koh's legs with it, but he could see Korra thrashing under Koh.

Roland was sure it was over, but a strange wind started to blow. A blue light appeared from under Koh, and the beast jumped away. Roland watched as Korra started to rise up. Wind blew around her and several rocks and boulders were shaken loose and joined in the mix. A small pool of water from nearby was sucked in as well, and Korra shot a blast of fire out. Her eyes were glowing blue and her movements seemed fluid and powerful.

Koh hissed and backed away from the Avatar. He knew what he had started, and wanted nothing to do with it. Korra had entered the Avatar state. This connected her to every previous Avatar through one mind. Her first attack of air was increased tenfold from what she could usually do.

The blast impacted Koh in the face and sent him flying. His coils loosened allowing Jorge to drop free. He grabbed the MA5B and continued to hose Koh down with fire, pausing only to reload.

Korra dropped part of the ceiling down on top of Koh's mid section, causing him to loosen enough for Roland to get completely free. However, instead of falling away, Roland started to move along the exoskeleton towards the kink in the armor Jorge had formed. The Spartan III didn't think even with his strength he could have separated the armored plates, but Spartan II's were more powerful than any others. Koh started to move back to the portal back to the spirit world, encouraged by Korra's fire and ice attacks. As Koh started to enter the spirit world, Roland reached the gap in the armor.

Korra brought an earthen spike down, pinning Koh momentarily so Roland could continue. As he fought to hold on, Korra sent a flamethrower like blast of fire into Koh's head. The balst lasted for several seconds and smoke rose off the armor when she relented.

At this point, Roland grabbed a plasma grenade, primed it, and shoved it into the gap. The Spartan simply let go and allowed Koh to knock him free. The grenade detonated, taking a chunk out of Koh's body. The plasma burned and started to cauterize the wound it had caused. The Spirit managed to get free of the spike as Roland and Jorge both started to riddle the location with bullets, causing Koh to move that much faster to retreat into the spirit world. As the last of him disappeared, Roland kept his M6C trained on the entrance as he side stepped towards his M7S.

Korra was slowly lowering to the ground. As her feet landed, she took a deep breath and her eyes returned to normal. Her legs fluttered a bit, but she remained standing and looked to Roland as reached the shotgun and started loading shells into the magazine. "I was in the Avatar State!" She said shouted with glee.

Roland walked towards her and hugged her. It felt weird to be hugged by a person in cold hard armor, but Korra was to elated to care and returned it anyway. "Now what do we do?" Roland asked her.

She looked at the portal as it started to close, and then back at Roland. "He already hates me because of one of my past lives. I think we need to go kill him or at least make it so he can never return."

Roland sighed. "Jorge… we need to go in." Jorge had already reloaded the rocket and grabbed as much ammo for his assault rifle as he could.

"I thought you'd never ask…" He said confidently. "Never fought something like this before, but it'll be a heck of a tale to tell. My helmets been recording this hole time." Roland could tell the Spartan was smiling as he spoke.

Roland grabbed his helmet and slid it into place as the three of them walked towards the portal. He looked at the massive Spartan to his left adorned with green and red armor and the Avatar to his right in her blue water tribe colors. He glanced down at his dull red armor and thought of the interesting colors they all wore. Him like the Fire Nation in red, Jorge almost like Earth, and Korra in her Water Tribe colors. With a deep breath, he stepped into the portal, completely surrendering himself to whatever lied beyond.

**So what do you think? I wanted to add more to the story than just finish where the series did. The idea for Koh came to me from a Zutara story called "I'll follow you home" I should link it, but I'm too lazy. I didn't copy it in any way other than him being the bad guy. Korra finally got her bending back AND used the Avatar State in a fight, and next we get to go to the Spirit World. Also, I have to say, I love seeing my email full of emails with reviews, so Read and Review!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Here's chapter 25. Alas, we're nearing the end of the story. Avatar, The Legend of Korra, Halo, and any associated characters are not my property. Also, to answer a question from edboy4926. IF I was to bring in Noble Six, it would likely be in Male form. I think it could be interesting either way, but I doubt that he will be making an appearance. Jorge was able to be worked in through the slipspace rupture, but Noble Six fought and likely died on Reach in the dying hours of the planet. Thanks for the question though!**

**Chapter Twenty Five **

The Spartan III stepped into a pleasant looking field of green knee high grasses. A small pool of water flowed into a stream and cascaded down several rocks creating a waterfall. The mist of the water caused a rainbow to frame the falling water. Roland took this in instantly, but still kept his weapon up.

Slowly he scanned the area, but there was nothing other than plush grass and a few floating bug like creatures. He brought his weapon down to a low ready when he realized something was wrong. To his right and left, there was nothing but open fields.

"Fantastic." Roland sighed. He looked around, but had no idea where to go. "KORRA!" He shouted. After not hearing a reply, he tried "JORGE!" Still nothing. He activated his comm channels and started scanning for active frequencies, but nothing showed up. That either meant Jorge was too far away, underground, or comms just didn't work at all here.

In the distance, a storm seemed to be forming over several tall mountains, but they offered the only vantage point in the area. "This is just wonderful" he huffed. "Not only do I not know where I am, I have no idea where anyone else is either." Roland started off towards the mountains at a decent pace.

After walking for an hour, the scenery changed to a thick forest. As he entered the woods, it was so dark that his night vision cut on sporadically, casting everything a green hue. After happening three times, Roland disabled the device out of irritation.

He walked for what felt like hours but never tired or became hungry. After clearing the forest, a small winding path led him up the mountains. As he followed it, he came to a small foot bridge made of stone. A creature no taller than his knee's stood in front of him. It had jet black fur and seemed to resemble a monkey, but stood like a man. "Who are you?" He asked. His voice was squeaky and rather annoying as soon as he spoke.

"Roland." The Spartan replied bluntly. "I am looking for another like me and the Avatar." E motioned to his armor to represent Jorge.

At the mention of the Avatar, the monkey seemed elated. "The Avatar? Is it here?" He asked as if the Avatar was a rare occurrence.

"Yes, she is here." Roland looked the creature over once more. "Can you help me find her?"

The creature made a shrugging motion. "I guess so, I do nothing else but watch this bridge for the superior."

This was the first good fortune Roland had so far. "Good, where should we start?" The monkey held his arms out like a baby wanting to be held. "You're kidding, right? What's your name?"

"Sueling." It replied, still holding its arms in the air. Roland huffed and lifted the creature to his back. "We go to the swamps." It said.

Roland nodded. "So where are they?"

Sueling pushed on Roland's helmet. "Forward!" It said excitedly.

"This is going to be lovely." Roland sighed as he stepped off. Maybe good fortune was stretching it in this case.

**Korra's POV **

Korra was horrified. The sound of the gunfire had allowed her to locate the group and the fighting. Koh had looked menacing and Korra thought it was over, but entering the Avatar state had been the most exhilarating thing that had ever happened to her.

Now, she stood looking at a vast swamp before her. The adrenaline rush of being in the Avatar state was still ebbing away when she noticed that Roland and the other Spartan were nowhere around her. The swamp before her was nothing but dark greens and browns, tall trees, and bubbling swamp water. "Roland!" She shouted, but her voice was drowned out by the surrounding vegetation. She had no idea where to begin looking for them.

"Fine." She huffed before plunging into the ankle deep water and trudging forward. As she walked, she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings and didn't notice the odd sandy ground beneath her feet. Moments later, she was sucked into a hole.

Landing on her butt, Korra looked up to have a bit of sand pour down onto her face from about ten feet above as the hole sealed itself shut, plunging her into darkness. Korra attempted to bend a flame, but it wouldn't work.

"What's going on now?" Korra asked herself aloud. She tried waterbending, earthbending, and even airbending, but nothing worked. Finally she remembered one of her spirit world classes that had taught her that bending, because it was a gift from the spirits, didn't work in their world. _"Trapped in darkness with no bending, and no way out." _She tried to look around, but still saw only blackness. Korra closed her eyes and tried to remember what she had seen from the fading light.

The room had been circular, with a large root growing out of one side. Korra stumbled forward clumsily in the direction she thought it was. Sure enough, after a few paces, she grabbed onto the moist wood. _"Alright Korra, gotta do something." _She told herself.

After following the root to the earthen wall, Korra started to move along to the left, using the wall as a guide for her hands. It was slow going, but eventually she felt a corner. To her eyes, nothing seemed any different, but Korra had found a passage that had to lead somewhere. Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to forge ahead.

Korra felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of her neck. The darkness was already starting to get to her slightly, and the moist earth wall was her only comfort. Slowly she slid one hand forward and then followed with her body, before doing it again. _"It's gotta to end somewhere." _Korra used that simple thought to push ahead.

**Jorge's POV **

"Well this is just dandy." The Spartan II had been through a lot over the past month with Noble Team. From the raid on the communications post and first contact on Reach, to a frontal attack on the Spire towers, to using a slipspace core as a bomb, but this took the cake. Fighting some type of massive centipede, random elements able to be controlled by otherwise normal people. Glowing, floating, fire using girls that seemed to have a thing for his fellow Spartans and now this. His two new companions were gone and he stood in a desert like oasis clutching his MA5B.

"It's good to see you, Jorge." An older man said from behind him.

Jorge spun and trained the rifle on a bald, bearded man. He had some sort of arrow tattoo on his forehead and wore orange and red clothes. "Tell you what. I won't blow your brains out, if you tell me where the heck I am." Jorge said as he glanced at his motion tracker. Nothing else seemed to be showing up except for the red blip of the man.

"I am Avatar Aang, and you are in the Spirit World." He said kindly.

"Alright old timer, why am I here?" Jorge lowered the rifle to the low ready. Aang didn't look much older than Jorge himself, but still grinned at the nickname.

"You are here because I summoned you here." Aang said. "Just as I brought Roland and Jonah to help Korra, you are here for the same purpose."

Jorge raised an eyebrow under his helmet. "Those two were reported MIA after an explosion at a Covenant dig site. It was determined that the Covenant was likely researching multidimensional travel at the time." Jorge cocked his head to the left. "So how do you say you got them here?"

Aang nodded and walked towards the soldier. "An accident in your world could just as likely be a calling here."

"Alright, so you brought us, why?" Aang walked pasted Jorge and he turned to follow.

"You shall see soon." The Avatar removed a small wooden whistle from his neck and blew softly. A sky bison flew down and landed softly beside him. "Let us go and get the others."

Jorge looked the odd beast over warily. It seemed like a six legged buffalo with a massive tail. "Can it hold me?" Jorge asked.

"Of course" Aang chuckled. "This is the Spirit world, I could carry you."

Jorge examined the beast once more before climbing on. "Fine, but you better start making some sense."

Aang just grinned like a twelve year old before cracking the reigns to take them airborne. This was definitely a lot weirder than anything the Covenant could throw at him was all Jorge could think as they cut through the skies.

**Roland's POV **

"Now go this way!" Sueling tugged at Roland's shoulder plate. The Spartan grudgingly turned and continued down another foot path.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Roland asked. His patience level had never been terribly high, and this retarded creature had nearly used all of it over the last hour.

"Of course! Turn again here!" Sueling tugged to the left.

Roland stayed on his course. "There is not a path, that's a cavern." He murmured.

"No, you must go here! That is the way to the supurior! He wishes to see you!" Roland froze and grabbed the creature. He lifted Sueling off his back by the scruff of his fur and held him in front of the visor.

"You mean to tell me that I have listened to you gab for the last hour so you introduce me to your friend?" Roland hissed. "I thought you knew where Korra was!"

"I know where she is, but first we see superior!" Sueling squealed with delight.

Roland allowed his head to droop. He never should have listened to the creature to begin with. Lifting his head slowly, he stared at the stupid thing. "Find it yourself." He said as he let go. As Sueling fell, Roland executed a perfect punt, sending the fuzzball off into the distance. Spinning on his heel, Roland started to jog back towards the mountain. It was only then that he heard a low rumbling in the distance. Sueling came running towards him as fast as his little legs would go.

"Run, run!" He shouted.

Roland looked to see hundreds of ugly green creatures, all of them the size of a ballon or so rushing towards him. "Now what?" Roland gripped as he grabbed Sueling and threw him back onto his back. The creatures seemed to be one of the horrid smells that had been in the swamp and they ran forward like miniature zombies trying to get to Roland.

"I take you to Korra!" Sueling cried. "Just keep us alive!"

Roland figured he could handle that much. "Which way?" He asked.

"Swamps are there." Sueling pointed to the left of the mountains. Roland settled his head down and took off in a run. The creatures stopped after a few hundred yards, almost as if there was a barrier they could not cross at the time and returned from where they came, but Roland pressed onward. It wasn't long before the two of them reached the swamp.

"Now where?" Roland asked. Sueling had been very quiet for the entire run. He looked about before freezing. "Sueling, now where?" The Spartan asked again.

"Listen." Sueling said.

Roland cranked up his helmet volume to maximum and realized he could make out a noise. It sounded almost like Korra shouting angrily. "What is that?" He asked.

"Tunnels of desolation." Sueling answered. "I never can go there."

Roland listened to Korra once more. "Where is it?" He grabbed the creature and placed him on the ground.

"Find soft ground in swamp, and you shall find tunnels. It is place of lost dreams." Roland shook his head at the little creature and started into the swamp. "I'll wait for you here!" Sueling cried.

"Don't bet on it." Roland ran faster, Korra was obviously in trouble and he needed to be there to help.

**Korra's POV **

After another thirty minutes of advancing in darkness, Korra's eyes finally detected the faintest traces of light. At first, she thought it was a trick of her mind, but ahead of her, a small flicker of a flame could be seen. Throwing caution into the wind, she raced towards it as if it was her only hope.

Dodging down the tunnel, she eventually came to a large stone room. It was the size of the air temple training ground back home, and a small bug like creature was fluttering about to the flicker of a small torch on the roof of the ceiling. "What are you, little guy?" Korra stood looking at it as it did a few spirals in the air and eventually came closer to her. She watched as the creature settled onto her forehead and rested there momentarily.

It wasn't until she felt a sharp pain and saw the creature fly off that Korra realized that could have been a bad idea. Her hand touched her forehead, but no type of stinger or welt had been left, instead, a small indent was all the remained.

The creature flew to the opposite side of the room and landed on the floor. At first, nothing happened, but Korra saw the creature begin to grow. It slowly metamorphosed into a humanoid shape, and then corrected itself to look like Korra. She watched horrified as clothes seemed to grow out of its skin and with in less than a minute, the doppelganger stood to face her.

"What the spirits?" Korra slowly approached her copy. The room remained to be lit in the absence of the flickering creature. The doppelganger didn't move or blink as Korra approached it. She held out her hand and allowed it to brush across her copies cheek.

A sharp intake of breath caused Korra to jump back. The intimidator inhaled and flexed its arms. "Who are you?" The copy asked, taking in Korra in an instant.

"A better question would be why do you look like me?" Korra held her fists at her side, unsure of how to take in her clone.

"I am Avatar Korra…" The clone replied.

"No you're not…" Korra stepped away and looked towards the door. "I am the Avatar."

The clone followed her slowly. "I am Avatar Korra." It said defiantly. "I have been since I was three! Roland and I came here to destroy Koh." Korra was getting worried now. This thing even had her memories. "Then a bug landed on my head and I remember seeing you next."

"This can't be right." Korra looked at her clone. "How can you have my memories?"

"They are my memories! You must have stolen them!" The clone shouted, raising her fists to fight.

Korra tried to run for the entrance and retreat into the tunnel, but her doppelganger knocked her legs out from under her. "What are you doing!" Korra shouted as she smashed her fist into the clones head. "Let me go!"

"No! You can't go." The clone shouted back as she accepted the blows. She worked her way up to Korra's abdomen and started to squeeze.

"Get off me!" Korra kicked her knee between the clones legs, causing her to loosen her grip enough for Korra to throw a punch at her face.

"You're fake!" The clone shouted.

Korra drove her elbow into the clones jaw, causing it to fall back a bit and allowing her to finally stand. "No, you are!" Korra kicked her clone viciously on the ground. She went for a curb stomp, but the clone rolled to the side and lashed out, knocking Korra back to the ground.

The copy shoved her forearm into Korra's throat and pushed down, hard. Instead of fighting to remove the limb, Korra aimed for her doppelgangers face. After striking twice, the forearm slid away enough for Korra to grab her copy's head and pull it towards her chest. She wrapped her legs around the clone's core and crushed with all her strength. The clone shouted in frustration and pushed with her hands to break free.

Korra felt something pop under her legs and figured a rib had been broken. The doppelganger cried as she smashed her fist into Korra's side, and followed by wriggling free. The two stood and faced each other in the dim room. The doppelganger's hair was a mess and she was bleeding in a few places. Korra assumed she looked just as bad, if not worse than her clone.

The two stood panting and catching their breath for a moment. As Korra readied herself to fight once more, a bright light suddenly filled the room. "On the ground, NOW!" The voice was almost unrecognizable, and as she turned to look, all she could see were a pair of large white lights staring at her.

**Roland's POV **

The sand like ground had not been hard to find at all. After prodding it with a stick, Roland shrugged and stepped into the pit. Just as with Korra, it had swallowed him and dumped him into the tunnel. Roland however landed on his feet and clicked his night vision into place.

The tunnel led in two directions, but hand prints and shuffle marks were only going one way. Roland followed them, and also heard a few more shouts and grunts. It almost sounded like Korra was talking to herself. He heard a loud cry of pain as he rounded a bend and looked into the dimly lit chamber. Before him, stood two Korra's, panting and catching their breath. They were both a mess from fighting, but the worst part was, there didn't seem to be any noticeable difference between them.

Roland chose to ask questions once he had detained them both, so he raised his M7S and clicked on both of his lights. "On the ground, NOW!" He shouted. The echo made his voice unrecognizable to him even, but after a moment, both Korra's complied. He stepped forward gingerly and retrieved a short length of cording from his belt. "You, on the left, on your knees." He ordered.

"Roland!" That Korra tried to stand up and run to his side.

"STOP." Roland snapped the M7S onto her face. "Until I know who is who and what is going on, both of you freeze."

The standing Korra stopped, and Roland approached her. He tied her hands and then sat her down, before repeating the process with the other. "So now what?" One of them asked.

Roland looked at the one who had just spoken and drew his knife. He stepped towards her and in one movement, cut her hair band on the left side, causing her hair to flatten against her shoulder. "Now I can tell you apart." Roland said, sheathing his blade.

"Good, now you can kill her." Korra with the cut hair said. "Some bug copied me and that's what came of it."

"Don't listen to her, Roland!" The other Korra shouted. "That is what happen to me, she just got all of the memories."

"So you both know why we're here?" Roland dipped his chin. None of his training had ever prepared him for a trick like this. Usually he just had to blow stuff up and kill.

"You have to be able to tell us apart!" Korra without the cut hair said.

Roland walked up to each of them and looked them over. Each had the same face he loved, down to the scar from Tarrlok on their left cheek. "There is no way to do this." Roland sighed. "You both think you came to be the same way." Finally, Roland chose to separate them by placing them on opposite sides of the room.

He spoke to the one without cut hair first. "When did we meet?" He asked.

"In Bolin and Mako's apartment. You woke up and attacked us." She sighed with irritation.

Roland thought for a moment more. "Why did we come here?"

"To kill Koh." She replied.

He spoke to the one with cut hair and had almost identical responses.

Finally Roland had a bit of an idea. The real Korra probably wouldn't remember super small details, so this was worth a shot. He approached the cut haired one once more. "What does ODST stand for?" He asked.

"Roland, I don't remember." She sighed and pouted her lip out in frustration.

"On which hand did the Elite Amon sent after us have his plasma rifles mounted to?"

She thought for a moment. "Uh, the right." That was correct, but Roland pressed on.

"How many bullets did I have when I got here?"

This time Korra just looked at him and refused to reply. "I have no idea what so ever. I promise I am the real Korra. I fell down this hole and a bug landed on my head. It flew to a corner and grew into a copy of me. We fought, and I was winning until you showed up. Heck, I even used some of the stuff you taught me. She even has a broken rib!"

Roland nodded and walked over to the other Korra. Her hair was messy, but the restraint that held her left ponytail thing was still intact. He stooped over and started again. ""What does ODST stand for?" He asked.

"Orbital Drop Shock Trooper." She said confidently.

"On which had did the Elite Amon sent after us have his plasma rifles mounted to?"

She thought for a moment. "The right." Again, she said it without hesitation as if she recalled it perfectly.

"How many bullets did I have when I got here?"

"One hundred and twenty. Ten magazines."

Roland really hoped he was right with this, but the real Korra would never remember all of that stuff. "Can you inhale deeply for me?" He asked.

Korra did, but winced in pain from her broken rib. Roland turned and walked towards the other Korra. He stooped down and untied her. "I really hope I'm right about this." He said to her.

"You are. I promise you." She reassured him. "How could you tell?"

"Your memories seemed to be more real." Roland said. He pointed at the doppelganger before continuing. "Hers were too scripted and precise. It's stuff I never would have expected you to know."

Korra seemed satisfied with it. "So what do we do with her?" She asked as she tried to fix her hair.

"Roland, you're making a mistake!" The clone tried to change his mind.

"We leave her here." Roland said as he took Korra by the arm and steered her back the way they had come.

"You're wrong!" The clone shouted after them. "Roland, I am the girl you fell in love with!"

The real Korra shrugged out of Roland's grip and walked back towards the copy. "He's mine." She hissed before she smashed her fist into the clone's face, knocking her unconscious. She turned and walked past Roland. "Let's go." She muttered. Roland knew at that moment, this really was the girl he had fallen for.

They walked in silence with Roland's light illuminating the tunnel before they reached a spot with the odd sand. Roland squatted and helped Korra onto his shoulders. "Push hard." He suggested. She managed to force her way through and climb into the smelly swamp once more. Roland jumped and fought through the sand. He almost looked as if he was swimming in it to escape, but sure enough, he did so. The two sat waiting on a small island to try to recover their bearings.

**Jorge's POV **

The sky bison hadn't even flinched under the half ton Spartan, another benefit of this weird spirit world. Jorge wasn't a fan of being off solid ground, but this was definitely a much better way to travel.

"So let me get this straight, you're that girl, in a past life?" Jorge asked.

"Essentially, yes." Aang replied from the saddle.

Jorge just continued to look off in the distance. This entire place was full of wackos that girl, who seemed to have an affection for his fellow Spartan, was definitely not the same as the guy who sat in front of him. "And we're here why again?"

"To finish off the beast you fought before." Aang had already explained this twice, but even Jorge, who was already very understanding for a Spartan, was still confused.

Jorge's helmet picked up a UNSC frequency. It was definitely Roland's. "Spartan, I am with some old timer. We're on the way now." Jorge said.

"Roger that, we'll hold our position until your arrival." Roland's voice came back over the radio.

"I have them on the radio." Jorge said to Aang.

The Avatar didn't reply at first. "That is fine, but I know where they are already."

Soon, the sky bison landed, and Roland and Korra climbed aboard. "Good to see you." Roland said to Jorge.

"Likewise, I didn't think I had lost you yet."

"Now where, Aang?" Korra asked her past self.

The Avatar cracked the reigns. "Appa, yip yip." He said confidently. As they leveled off, he looked back at the group. "We find Koh, and finish him."

**Alright, so please remember this was the Spirit world, so things like a self sealing sand trap, a random doppleganger and not getting tired or hungry can play into it. I never really paid much attention to the spirit world in the old episodes of Avatar, so hopefully I did a decent job. Finally, that was the flood that Roland encountered in the swamp. It will be elaborated on later. Lastly, The Legend of Roland has now been up for one month! Let me know how you think this chapter was by reviewing! **


	27. Chapter 26

**Here's chapter 26. Remember, Roland, Korra, and Jorge are in the Spirit world going after Koh. This is not my stuff. **

**Chapter Twenty Six**

"You don't mean kill him, do you?" Korra asked. Everything she had heard about Avatar Aang was that he was a pacifist and never killed anything.

"No, not kill him." Aang affirmed her beliefs about him. "We are going to make it so that he can never return to haunt the world again, by destroying his face."

Jorge looked at Roland. Using the closed comm. channel of their helmets, he spoke. "What is all this about Spartan?" He asked.

"Sorry Jorge, I have no idea." Roland replied. "All I know is we have to stop that thing because it is messing people up."

"So how will we remove his face?" Korra asked in the background. Roland returned his attention to the conversation.

"I'm not really sure." Avatar Aang stroked his beard in thought. "It will take a lot of damage, but I believe it can be done."

Jorge tapped the SPNKr tube. "I believe so to." He said confidently.

A flashing light went off in Roland's helmet warning him of noxious gas. He looked over the saddle and saw they had gone deeper into the swamp. The smell was starting to smell like Koh's breath. "His cave is down there." Aang said as he directed Appa downward. Roland noticed the same spot where he and Sueling had stood a few hours prior when the creature tried to get him to go into the cave. He brushed it aside for now and readied his weapon.

As they stepped onto the ground, Korra realized she wasn't going to be much help in this fight."What am I going to do?" Korra asked the group as they prepared to descend into the blackness.

Without missing a beat, Jorge shoved his MA5B into her hands along with a bandolier of ammo. "Point it at Koh and pull the trigger. When it clicks, press this and insert a new magazine. Cock the weapon and fire until it clicks again." Jorge pointed to all the parts as he spoke quickly. He snapped the rifles tac light on and the group started into the pit.

"You shouldn't go down there." The annoying voice was familiar to Roland.

"Sueling, what are you doing here?" Roland asked as he lowered his M7S.

The creature seemed as if it shrugged. "Want to watch you die." It said bluntly. "Superior only wanted you, I don't want to get in trouble."

"Aang, who the heck is this?" Roland asked the Avatar.

Aang ignored the creature and continued down. "He is just a helper, he's not really important at all."

Roland shook his head at the thing and continued down. The smell was horrendous. Swamp gas was seeping in on all sides of the dark cavern. The ceiling wasn't more than ten feet high, giving the room a claustrophobic feel. Roland swept his light across a stalagmite, searching for the monster.

"Koh, come out and face us!" Aang shouted boldly.

Roland froze, expecting some sort of lashing out, but nothing happen. All they could hear was Korra's nervous breathing and the dripping of condensation into pools.

Roland's light reflected off the small pools of water, casting even stranger moving shadows on the walls. After nearly a minute, Korra was getting anxious. "Are you sure he's down here?" She asked.

Jorge tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to scream and start firing as she turned. Roland spun to see the commotion, but Jorge had simply batted the rifle in a safe direction. "I wanted to show you how to turn off the light." He hissed as he showed her the button. "Relax, it doesn't even seem like he is here anyway."

Roland scanned the room once more, but still nothing. He didn't notice the ceiling change from packed dirt to smooth black scales above him. "If he's not here, than where is he?" It was times like this the Spartan wished he had a dozen of himself to cover all directions. A quick glance in Korra's direction revealed that she was fine. Obviously afraid because of how her hands were trembling, but she seemed to have it under control. The Spartan III knelt slowly to look at a pool of water that was turning black. All of the other pools were dirty, but this pool was literally turning black.

At that moment, Korra glanced in her lovers direction. She saw Koh's head and part of his body lowering down from the ceiling directly behind Roland. He wore the nasty face of a badger mole and his spike like legs were ready to thrust into the gaps in his armor. "Roland!" Korra shouted as she smashed the trigger down on the rifle. The sporadic burst riddled off of Koh, but drew his attention long enough for Roland to realize what was wrong.

Roland spun to face the massive head before him. He shouldered his M7S as he clicked on the light. The several hundred lumen light blinded Koh momentarily, allowing Roland to fire a full sixty round magazine into the beast. "Humans!" Koh shouted in irritation. His spike like legs released their hold from the ceiling and allowed him to drop onto the floor, nearly crushing Roland in the process.

As Koh glanced up, he saw another blinding light, but this was only for a moment as the back blast of the SPNKr tube dissipated. Koh closed his massive eyelid just as the 105mm shaped charge rocket impacted. Jorge fired a second rocket and quickly started the reloading process.

Koh's eye opened to see Korra standing in front of him. She saw a human face from the earth kingdom, but unloaded anyway. Three of the bullets struck his face, damaging the one he wore, but Koh simply blinked and brought up another. This was the face of an older person from the fire nation.

As Korra fumbled with the reloading process, Koh saw an opportunity. The Avatar had no bending in the Spirit world, so what better time to take her. As he rushed forward, Korra slammed the magazine home and started to bring the rifle to bear when an armored green hulk smashed into Koh, altering his course and forcing him into a wall.

Jorge stood up and fired two more rockets into the dazed spirit, but neither did much more than irritate the monster again. As Koh reared back to strike, a voice rang out.

"Wait!" Avatar Aang shouted. "No one is going to solve this." Koh looked at the former Avatar and then at the Spartan and Korra before him. "Koh, what can we do to prevent you from coming back into the human world?"

Koh put on the face of a Kyoshi Warrior. "There is nothing you can do Avatar. I come and go as I please."

"Can we make a deal then?" Aang asked cautiously.

Koh moved his first several feet back and forth like a viper ready to strike as he thought. "The face of this warrior," He pointed towards Jorge." and I will not enter the human world for one hundred years. The face of both," Koh looked around to try to spot Roland, but he had disappeared. "two hundred years."

"No!" Korra said definitively.

Aang held up his hand to stop her. "Two hundred years?" Koh sort of nodded his head. "Spartan, I cannot force you to give yourself for this, but I do ask you to think of the lives you will save." Aang said to Jorge.

"You trust this guy?" The massive Spartan II asked. He saw a flicker just outside of Koh's peripheral vision and hoped it was what he thought it was. He had not heard much of the Headhunter program, but Noble Six had spoken of it in passing. A lot of his cool toys came from the same program, so Jorge figured this was a safe bet. "I don't want to die just so he can continue on as is."

"Aang, how can you ask them to do that?" Korra looked at her former self, unable to believe he was capable of asking so much.

"Just trust us Spartan, he will honor his word." Aang said confidently.

Jorge smiled inside of his helmet as he saw the flicker again, this time only inches from where Koh could see it. "Not gonna happen." Jorge said as he aimed the rocket.

Koh looked between the Avatar and the warrior before him. "Last chance Avatar, or I kill you all and continue anyway." His voice was raspy, almost like the Spirit had a cold.

Suddenly, without any funny comment or last chance offer, two blue lights appeared directly in front of Koh. Before he could blink, they were thrust into his "eye" socket. In the blue hue they cast off, he could see the other smaller warrior materialize out of thin air and step back. Koh felt the two orbs heating up and a moment later, they both detonated simultaneously.

Koh screamed in rage as he tried to remove the burning plasma, but it seared his eyelid shut. He flung his head back and forth in a desperate attempt to do something, but the Headhunter had won. Finally, Koh heard a voice. Roland was far enough away to not be attacked by the blind spirit, but still terribly confident. "When in doubt, blow stuff up." He said with an air of cockiness in his voice.

"Cowards!" Koh shouted as he heard footsteps leaving his cavern. "You fight like cowards!"

"Nope, I fight to win." Roland shouted back.

Even through the thick canopy of a nasty swamp, the sun still felt warming to Korra. She had definitely not enjoyed her time in the cavern and was still trembling slightly. Jorge looked at Aang. "Glad you saw him go ghost." The Spartan said. "I might have fried him in the crossfire."

Aang grinned. "Yes, I have seen Roland's attempts to use his camouflage, and it worked well, so I decided he must have a plan."

"I'm glad that's over." Korra sighed.

"Yes Korra, you can have some peace now." Aang said happily. "But first, we must make a stop."

The four climbed back onto Appa and flew for several minutes. They crossed back into a much more beautiful part of the spirit world and settled in a soft green field before a large cliff.

"Spartans." Aang looked at the two men before him. "You're world needs you once more." He approached the rock face and a window opened back into their time. "Your "Reach" has fallen, and the Earth is under attack."

Jorge recognized New Mombassa and was shocked to see a Covenant Cruiser in the atmosphere just above it. Korra grabbed onto Roland's armored forearm without thinking. "When can I go?" Jorge asked solemnly.

"Right now." Aang said as the window grew wider.

Jorge looked at Roland and slid his helmet off to view his fellow Spartan eye to eye. "Roland, our world needs us. It's our duty."

Roland also dropped his helmet. Earth was falling. Every Spartan could be a game changer at this point, but what did he owe that world. "They made us as weapons." Roland said quietly. "Why should I give up my shot at a normal life to die there?"

Jorge seemed saddened by his answer. "Humanity needs us." He said with a passion.

Roland looked at the girl on his arm. "Please…" Korra whispered. She knew he was torn, and in her state, there was nothing she could do to stop him physically.

Roland couldn't bear to see her like this and looked at Aang. "Roland, I helped have you brought her for Korra. She needed your help and friendship to defeat Amon, but now you do not have to stay here. You have done all that was needed to for this world."

Roland slid his helmet back into place and shrugged Korra off his arm gently. He took the rifle from her and tossed it to Jorge. The Spartan II smirked confidently before replacing his own helmet. "Two Spartans against a cruiser? They don't stand a chance." Jorge said as he checked the rifle and readied it.

Roland clicked off his safety as he approached the portal. In his mind, he started running through the best point to engage the different Covenant species for maximum damage with minimal effort. "Wait!" Korra shouted. "Roland, how can you do this?"

Roland looked back at her. His impersonal helmet stared at her beautiful face. "It is my duty." He said quietly. She always thought his helmet made him sound foreign, but now more than ever Roland seemed detached. Almost as if he had already decided he need to go and was willing to push through. The Spartan knew that she needed him, but there were millions of others who needed him to.

"After all you said, after all _we _have been through, you'll still go?!" Korra shouted angrily. "You really did just see me as a mission, didn't you?" Her hands were balled into fists and tears were flowing down her face. "You just wanted to get done with this and on to the next one until you die before you're even twenty!" She looked into the helmet visor but could only see herself.

Roland sighed and broke her gaze. "I'm sorry Korra." He truly meant it, but his people were dying before him, and he had to help somehow. "If I don't fight, who will?" He walked towards the portal and reached out with his left hand towards it.

"Please don't go." Korra said desperately. "How many times did you say you wouldn't leave if you had the choice!" Roland paused as the conversations flooded back into his memory.

"This is different." He said without emotion. "There are people being killed on Earth. How many of my fellow Spartans already died defending Reach while I was here? I am missing out on my fight."

"Roland, you are killing me!" Korra cried. "I love you, and you are willing to walk away from all of it." She looked at him for a few more seconds before burying her face in her hands.

Roland looked back at her again. The portal to his own dimension was only inches from him, but he loved Korra so much more than he could begin to describe. She was the only "normal" he had ever had in his life, and he couldn't bear seeing her like this. There was a chance she would kill herself if he left right now, and there was no way he could ask her to wait for him to return. Heck, he might not even be able to return to her, but he also might not ever be able to go back help in the fight against the Covenant. _"She's the only one who actually cared if you were alive or not." _Roland thought to himself.

He looked at his fellow Spartan beside him. Even with the helmets masking their faces, Jorge knew what his brother was thinking. "Go." He said, jerking his thumb towards Korra. "One Spartan can handle a Cruiser any day." Their closed communications meant no one heard a sound of their conversation.

Roland turned and looked at Korra before looking back at New Mombassa. A trio of Pelicans was heading into the streets, and at that very moment, it looked like everything was fine. "Stay safe Spartan." He said as Jorge stepped into the portal. The comm. channel went to static as Roland turned to face Korra. He slid his helmet off with one hand and walked over in front of her.

Korra was still sobbing into her hands, but as he reached to pull them away from her face, she slugged him as hard as she could. Roland felt his nose dislocated and the pain made his head spin for a moment. "Jerk." Korra said flatly before punching him again, this time in the eye. "Don't ever do that again!"

Blood started to pour from Roland's nose as Korra threw her arms around his armored hulk. "I wub you tu." Roland said through his own blood.

Aang smirked a bit in the background. As Roland hugged her back. His fight was now with this world alongside Korra. "Last chance, Roland." Aang said.

Korra released him and moved between the Spartan and the previous Avatar. "No Roland, no more chances." She said sternly.

"Very well, Korra, there is still one more thing we must go over." Aang motioned for her to come towards him. He held out his hand and softly touched her forehead. "This is how you can restore balance to the world."

Korra opened her eyes without realizing they had been closed. In her mind now rested the knowledge of how to undo Amon's bending block, and it felt like she had known it all of her life. "Thank you, Aang." Korra said as she bowed deeply to her former self.

"All shall now be well." Aang said as he returned her bow. Roland watched from the side, but didn't see the small black furball on the cliff above them. As Korra stood up from her bow, Sueling launched himself into the air.

Roland felt something impact the back of his head with great force. He reached up and threw it roughly to the ground. Sueling laid there stunned for a moment before rolling to the side and trying to run.

Roland's M7S coughed as a burst of caseless ammo knocked the creature to the ground. "Aang?" Korra looked at her former self. The Airbender seemed terribly worried.

"Why have you done this?" He asked the wounded creature as he knelt next to it.

Roland stood over it, aiming at the most likely kill point. "I had to avenge the superior." Sueling coughed up black blood the same color as its fur.

"Whut do yu mean?" Roland shoved the barrel into the creature's tiny face. His own blood was still trickling out of his nose, forcing him to breathe through his mouth.

"Koh protects me, he keeps the other Spirits from hurting me… but now, you have ruined him!" Sueling tried to scratch at Roland, but his armor deflected it like a bug against a windshield.

"Just a helper thing, huh?" Roland looked at Aang before squeezing the trigger once more. "Whatever it was, it's dead now."

Aang turned his eyes away as the blood splattered over Roland's boots. "So, can we leave now?" Korra asked after a moment.

Aang nodded as another portal appeared. Roland looked at the airbender. "Thanks for bringing me here." He said.

Aang looked the Spartan over once more. "While I don't approve of your methods, you have greatly helped Korra, which means you have helped me. Thank you."

The Spartan and the Avatar stepped into the portal and returned to the cavern that had held the cult members.

"So now what?" Korra asked. There were quite a number of dead lying in the room. Bullets cut through the un armored people with ease, slaughtering them.

"Zhumg!?" Roland shouted. Dar was the first one to appear, followed by the other survivors.

"What happened Spartan?" Zhang asked. As he looked at his bloody nose and bruised eye.

"Hang on." Korra said as she drew some water off the ground and quickly healed Roland's eye and his nose. Krok walked over and without warning snapped the Spartans nose back into place.

Roland shrugged with watering eyes as he spoke to Zhang. "Let's just say Koh won't be visiting anytime soon and leave it at that."

The Raiders eyed him cautiously. To them, it sounded like this Spartan had killed a spirit. "We should police up these dead and head back." Zhang said as he looked around the room.

The group broke up. The handful of survivors were brought to Krok to be healed in preparation for transport. Many people helped stack the dead bodies of the cult members and the Raiders separately. The two surviving Marines looked at their fallen comrade as Korra, Roland, and a few others moved through the bodies checking for the living.

"Help…" A woman whispered from under a dead man. She was pale and didn't seem like she would last long at all.

"I found another one." Roland announced as he slid the body off of the dying cult member. His pistol was trained on her, but she didn't seem like she could offer much of a fight.

"Come closer, I must tell you something." She whispered as Roland leaned down. He held his barrel in her face as he leaned towards her lips.

She whispered something that sounded like "For Koh." And the Spartan saw the glint of a knife to late as it was shoved towards his armor. His first reaction was simply to pull the trigger, splattering the woman's blood over him in the process. However, the muscles had already received their message and continued on their path.

Roland felt a prick turn into a cut as the knife found a gap in his armor and slid through as he fired two more shots into the dead woman. He managed to pull the knife away and strip the armor off to inspect the injury. The knife entered just below Roland's liver about two or maybe three inches.

While he was worried, Roland didn't panic. "Krok, over here!" He shouted as slid off his helmet and pulled away his under suit to better see the injury.

"This is getting kinda old." Korra chuckled as she knelt beside him.

"I agree." Roland smiled at her as she examined his injury. It could be dangerous, if not for the medic running up to heal it almost instantly.

"What happen?" Krok asked as he looked Roland over.

Roland motioned towards the dead body. "Nothing much, I just got sucker stabbed."

Krok smiled a bit. "Well, this shouldn't be hard at all." He bent some water out of a canteen on his side and placed it over the wound. His hands glowed like Korra's had, but his face took on a look of confusion. "Where's the knife?" He asked instantly.

Roland picked it up and held it out to him. "Right here."

Korra noticed something wasn't right. "Krok, what's wrong?" She asked with a tone of worry.

The medic examined the blade before looking Roland in the eye. "You are going to die in less than an hour." He said bluntly.

**Haha Cliff hanger! I always hated them when it happens to me, but they are great fun when you are the author. Next update will be on Monday, August 6. Until then, let me know how you think it was. The fight between Koh and the Spartans was not quite as epic as I wanted, but most real fights don't last for hours. Instead, it was just a quick fight that Roland sorta cheated on to win. Also, Noble Six was mentioned as was Master Chief, although he was very indirect. Plus one life point to anyone who can tell me how he was mentioned. Read and Review! **


	28. Chapter 27

**So, while everyone does hate cliff hangers, here's chapter 27 for you! If you didn't see my comment in the reviews, Master Chief was mentioned when I referred to the three pelicans entering New Mombasa. **

**Chapter Twenty Seven **

Roland felt a wave of nausea overcome him as Krok spoke. It felt worse than his first drop in an SOEIV from orbit. He heard the medic continuing to speak, but the words seemed slow. "The knife was filled with poison." he explained as he pointed to a small spot on the blade that had held the deadly liquid.

Roland looked up at Korra as she pushed Krok aside and placed her own hands on him. "I can pull it out." She said confidently.

Roland felt her cool hands on his abdomen. The water felt good, but the rest of his body started to heat up fiercely. Korra felt his body starting to react to the poison. "Roland, I'm sorry." She whispered as she started to bend his blood in reverse.

The sensation felt horrid and Roland wanted to scream, but his body seemed to have stopped listening to his mind. Korra could feel the poison coming back towards her and slowly it came oozing out.

The yellowish liquid was quickly wiped away by Krok, but Roland's condition continued to worsen. "The knife held double that, at least." The medic said solemnly.

"What's going on?" Zhang asked as he walked up to the trio.

"Poison, he's going to die." Krok said as he examined the injury once more. Korra wanted to slug him for his attitude about the entire thing.

Zhang knelt beside the Spartan and looked into his eyes. Roland couldn't even talk anymore, whatever the poison was it had started locking his body down. "Can we get him help in time?"

Korra looked at Krok desperately as the medic spoke. "I'm not sure. Korra was able to pull a lot of it out. If we move now, maybe we can get help in time."

Zhang nodded solemnly. "All of you, get over here!" He shouted.

The two Marines were the first over. "What can we do?" A young corporal asked as he looked at the Spartan.

"We need to get his armor off." Korra said as she started to remove it. The two Marines joined her in removing the plates.

"Leton, get a stretcher made!" Zhang shouted. The firebender grabbed another Raider and the two ran off to build a stretcher.

It only took the Marines a minute to remove all of Roland's plates because they were somewhat familiar with UNSC armor. "We can carry his weapons." The other Marine said. He was a private first class, and started buckling the weapons to his own armor.

"Let me keep his knife." Korra said as the corporal reached to remove it. He nodded and handed it over to her. The young Marine noticed a small bulge in the Spartan's pocket.

"What is this?" He asked as he pulled the green strap with a small grey stone out and examined it.

Korra glanced up from Roland and saw it. She slowly reached out took the dangling piece of cloth and stone from the Marine. She felt the hand carved work on the stone and recognized the half of the UNSC eagle and globe from Roland's armor. She even saw it on the armor of the Marines who were helping right now. "Roland?" She asked wishfully. Korra knew exactly what it was, but part of her was crushed because of the situation before her.

The Spartan only had the ability to smile weakly. The last thing he saw was Korra's watering eyes before his own slid shut. Korra leaned down next to his ear as Leton ran back with the stretcher. Roland felt Korra's breath on his ear as she uttered one word, "Yes." before he fell into a deep, painless coma.

"Roland?" Korra looked at him as he was placed on the stretcher. He seemed to be dead already, but Korra didn't believe it. She walked along side him as Leton, Dar, Krok, and the corporal carried him out. As they walked, she placed her hand on his neck and felt a pulse. It was weak, but it was a pulse.

As they exited the cavern, Korra noticed that the sun was just starting to peak over the hills and cast light into the valleys. She didn't know why, but this scene gave her some hope. They walked slowly due to the stretcher, but by the afternoon, the shoreline was in sight. Zhang had personally gone ahead to alert the ship and crew, and General Bumi himself was on the shore to meet the returning group.

"How is he?" The general asked.

Krok looked him over for the tenth time. "He is alive, barely." The waterbender looked over the warrior's body with care. "His heart beat is still terribly slow and he has a fever, hence the sweating."

The general laid his hand over Roland's head with care. "Will the fever burn off the poison?"

Krok only shrugged as the stretcher was placed into one of the craft on the beach to be taken out to the awaiting ship. The Spartan was placed in the medical bay, which due to the lack of recent fighting was otherwise empty. The room in the ship was long, with room for at least thirty recovering men to rest and all of Roland's gear had been placed in the room with him. He was stripped from his dirty clothes and put in pair of white pants before the doctor covered him with a sheet.

"We should be back in Republic City by tomorrow." Bumi said kindly to Korra. She sat down on the bed next to Roland and simply looked at him. "The currents and winds are on our side and I have good news." Korra looked up hopefully. "Tenzin has already sent word for our mother to come down. She is the best healer, so Roland has a good chance."

"Thank you, general." Korra said. She looked like a mess. Her hair was frazzled and out of place, there were cuts and scrapes all over her exposed skin, a few bruises were starting to form, and dust coated her body from the days walk.

"I can have a shower prepared for you." The general offered.

Korra shook her head. "Maybe later." She pulled the bed closer to Roland's in order to hold his hand.

As Bumi bowed to leave, a doctor came in with Krok beside him. The doctor took Roland's pulse and looked him over. "He seems to be stable." The doctor said, but he noticed Korra's look of worry. "This man is supremely fit and a hardened warrior. If anyone can pull through, it is him."

Korra smiled sadly. "Thanks, he's going to make it." She said confidently as the doctor walked off.

"The doc will be at the end of the hall and I'll be nearby." Krok said. "If you need us, just start yelling and we'll come running." He turned and also left the room, leaving Korra with an unconscious Roland before her.

"What am I going to do with you?" Korra asked softly. She ran her fingers through his brown hair. When they had first met, it had been cut short, almost shaved, but Roland hadn't paid much attention to it recently and allowed it to grow out a ways. It wasn't hanging down at all, but still long enough for Korra to run her fingers through it, she decided it was perfect.

She noticed his toned upper body and for some reason, she thought of his lack of scars. So many of the soldiers and fighters she had seen wore scars and calluses with pride, but Roland's skin was smooth and almost soft from the years of being fully encased in armor.

Absentmindedly, Korra took out her new betrothal necklace and looked it over. She correctly summarized that he must have done it on the way to this last mission. She loved it the instant she laid eyes on it, but as she looked it over, she noticed her finger nails, cracked with dirt and one was chipped. She continued looking up her arm and noticed the assortment of scratches and cuts on her tan skin. "I guess it couldn't hurt to have you wake up to see me a little nicer." Korra mumbled to Roland's unconscious form.

She stood and wandered out of the room to find General Bumi or someone who could direct her to a shower and didn't seem Roland stir a bit in his coma.

"_So is this Karma?" Roland asked himself as the blackness started to fade away a bit. He opened his eyes slowly to see if he was safe. _

"_Nah 258, you're just getting soft." An instructor stood over him. Roland glanced about and noticed they were back in Camp Currahee from before he had even been sent out for Headhunters training. "On your feet and run it again!" _

_Roland jumped up and stumbled a bit as his unaltered body tried to move. He looked at his hands and realized he wasn't more than fourteen year old. His hands hadn't been callused like this since before he was augmented. Back then, he had to do dozens of pull ups and never used gloves or armor to protect him. _

"_Come on Roland" Another future Spartan shouted as she ran towards the obstacle course. Roland jumped to his feet and followed after her. At first, everything seemed fine, but then time seemed to slow and other candidates materialized around him. All of them grasped paint pellet guns and rounds were snapping through the air above them. Roland looked down and he too was holding a weapon. _

_Roland hunched over and followed after the group. An instructor opened fire and hit the boy in front of him, giving Roland just enough time to snap up and fire a shot into the instructor. At that point, the woods erupted with fire causing Roland to throw himself into the ground for cover. _

_When he opened his eyes, he was laying on the hard floor of the indoor gym where they often trained. His muscles burned like he had just done hundreds of pushups. "Recover." Was the simple word he heard from above him. _

_Roland brought both feet under him and sharply stood to attention. He felt that his body had now undergone the augmentation process as he stood before Lieutenant Commander Ambrose. This man was the leader of the Spartan III training camp, and from Roland's memory, he was also a Spartan II. "I think you'll handle what is ahead just fine." Ambrose smiled and shook the young Spartan III's hand. _

"_Thank you, sir." Roland said as the scene changed once more. His helmet HUD was displayed before him and he noticed the friend or foe indicator pointing to his left. _

"_Got contact." Jonah muttered. _

_Roland shook his head. It was almost like he was reliving every point of his life, but too fast to take it all in. Next, he was in a firefight alongside Jonah, and an instant later, the two were in a hide aiming their sniper rifles towards a Covenant base. _

_Roland glanced down and now his M6C was disassembled in his hands as the two of them killed time before their finally assault of the Covenant compound that eventually led them to this world. Roland felt the pain once more of the Elite energy sword stab into his shoulder and then the cooling bliss of Korra healing him._

_He felt his feet rocking back and forth and he and Korra kissed inside of the small row boat. And then her half naked form was below him and he and Jonah attended to her hypothermia. Amon's mask filled his vision before turning into Koh's head as it cycled through each of his faces. It finally settled on the face of the woman who stabbed him before turning into her entire body lying out before Roland as she had a few hours before. _

_This time, Roland simply shot her, but it didn't change anything. As the thump of his pistol resounded, he could see Korra's face fading as his eyes had slid shut, and then there was only blackness. _

"_And you didn't want to come back?" Ambrose spoke once more. Roland was standing before him, but there was nothing around at all except for a wooden floor. The Spartan wore only his fatigues and Ambrose was in set of SPI armor, minus the helmet. "Could have used someone like you back to help." _

_Roland had no idea what all this was, but spoke anyway. "No sir, my life is here now, with Korra." _

"_It's funny how a woman can change your values." Ambrose responded. _

_Roland shook his head. "Not changed, just redirected. Thank you for all that you did sir, but I choose to remain here."_

"_Duty, Honor, Courage?" Ambrose asked. _

_Roland smiled a bit. "All of those will be directed into becoming a better protector of Korra." _

_To Roland, none of this felt right, especially when Jonah walked out of nowhere in his full gear. "So yer her baby sitter now?" _

"_No, not like that." Roland didn't know if this was some messed up form of his conscious or what, but pressed on. "I am going to marry her. I don't know the first thing about this, but I think we can handle it." _

_Jonah and Ambrose glanced at each other and nodded. "Good luck then." Jonah said as Ambrose disappeared. "I hope this poison wears off soon, cause yer minds a weird place..." The Spartan III looked around. "Oh yeah, and this next parts gonna suck." And with that, Jonah faded away as well. _

_Roland felt his body start to shake and wriggle. It felt like every part of him was on fire and all he wanted to do was scream, but he was unable to. He felt the sensation of falling as the planks of the floor fell came out from under him and he fell into a black void once more. _

Korra had enjoyed a hot shower and some fresh clothes, even if they weren't flattering in any way at all. "Roland won't care." She whispered to herself. "He's probably not even going to be up before we get back to the island." Korra tied her new betrothal necklace around her neck as she walked.

She rounded the corner into the room to see Krok physically laying across Roland's body trying to keep him on the bed. The doctor was frantically taking pulse and attempting to restrain Roland.

The Spartan was lashing out uncontrollably, flailing his arms and kicking his legs. Korra was not surprised at all when he threw Krok off of him. The water bender stood up in a huff and drew back some water as Korra ran to his side.

"What are you doing?" She asked worriedly.

Krok wrapped Roland's legs in ice, and then froze them to the bed as well. He then did the same to Roland's upper body and arms. The doctor seemed relieved as Roland thrashed about under the bondage. "This is good actually." He said as he wiped some perspiration off his forehead. "His body is back under his control and he is trying to fight the burning sensation of the poison."

Krok walked over to a mirror and examined the rapidly forming bruise on his cheek from where he hit the floor. "He's got quite a kick." The warrior muttered as he healed himself. Korra smiled a bit as Krok left the room.

Korra approached the Spartan cautiously and placed a hand on his chest gently. "The ice won't be bad for him, will it?" She asked.

"Not at all!" The doctor all most seemed happy. "The ice will assist in bringing down his temperature significantly." Korra was unsure. She had seen plenty of frostbitten extremities in the South Pole, and she didn't want anything to happen to him. Once more, the doctor noticed her look of concern and addressed it. "Once the fever is controlled, he should awaken not long after. With the help of the ice, it could only be a few hours until he is awake."

Korra sat down on the bed next to Roland once more. "Alright. I won't be leaving again." Roland thrashed violently, cracking one of the restraints. Korra thawed and refroze it quickly. "I'll call you if anything else happens." She assured him.

The doctor looked them over once more. "Very well." He nodded and returned to his room. Korra laid back in the bed as Roland jolted around again.

It was a long night. The Spartan finally seemed to calm down around three in the morning, but before then, Korra had to re freeze his restraints thirty times. Once the fever broke, Roland's entire body seemed to relax and he looked just like he was sleeping. Korra dozed softly next to him until the ship shook as the engines slowed down. The metal hull echoed the changing pitch of the engines and caused Korra to sit up abruptly.

She swung her feet of the bed and stretched as she awakened. Roland had curled onto his left side and was still asleep. Korra didn't realize it, but the droning of the ships engines was music to the Spartan's ears and far better than anything else to help him sleep.

She couldn't decide if she should try to wake him or not, but finally gave in to her desires and gently placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him.

"Mmmrggff." Roland mumbled into his pillow. Korra was delighted. Not only was he better, but he was responsive to touch.

Korra squatted in front of his face and shook him again a little harder. "Roland?" She asked sweetly.

His right eye opened just enough to see her. "What?" He mumbled. As he spoke, his eye looked around the room. His forehead creased in thought before he slowly sat up and opened both eyes. He ran his hand over his head down his face, dragging it on his lip a bit as he let out a long sigh.

"You're leaking." Korra said happily.

Roland simply smiled at her groggily. "Well, I ain't dead." He murmured as he flexed his hands a bit.

"Nope, you're better now."

The Spartan looked around the room and finally settled his eyes on her. "So, you wanna tell me who you are, or do I have to guess?"

"What do you mean?" Korra asked him in confusion.

"Those don't look like UNSC issue uniforms." He said pointing to her clothes. "And it sounds like the engine needs some work."

"Roland, you don't know who I am?" Korra asked. It seemed like somehow he had lost his memory.

Roland looked into Korra's worried eyes for a few seconds before he couldn't hold it any longer. "Gotcha." He chuckled as a massive grin broke out onto his face.

"You turd!" Korra shouted as she playfully smacked his arm. "You're going to pay for that."

Roland leaned over and hugged her warmly. "I'm sure you'll find a way." He whispered into her ear. "I like the necklace by the way. It really suits you."

Korra pushed him away enough to look into his eyes. "I love it! And my answer is yes." She said as she kissed him. Roland leaned in even more, and started to slide off the bed. Korra pushed him up just before he fell off.

"Oops." He said sheepishly.

"Can you get up?" She asked.

Roland slowly slid his legs off the bed and stood to his feet. His entire body was sore and tired, but he was breathing and that was good enough for him. His lips tingled a bit from kissing Korra as she led him through the corridors and onto the main deck.

The massive craft was slowing easing as close as it could to the air temple island and Korra could see the kids running about gleefully. Much of the construction was already done, and Korra even noticed a new smaller building had been built. "We have your stuff." A voice said from behind them.

Roland turned to see the two Marines holding all of his armor and weapons. "Thanks, we still need to talk." He reminded them.

General Bumi and Sergeant Zhang walked down from the conning tower. "Let's get you home Spartan." The general said kindly.

A craft was lowered off the side of the ship containing the group and they were pulling alongside the dock within a minute. The group awaiting them was massive. Tenzin's family, Katara, Korra's parents, Bolin, Mako, Asami, Lin, a few air acolytes, and two White Lotus guards.

"Korra!" Ikki shouted as she stepped out of the ship. Roland was still moving a little slowly and everything seemed to go in a rush for him. Everyone was happy Korra had recovered her bending and they were elated when she returned Lin Beifong's bending back to the fullest.

"Come on soldier boy." Katara said kindly. "Let's go get you checked out." Roland nodded and followed the old woman towards the house. He looked back to see Meelo barraging one of the Marines with questions and Asami pointing to Korra's neck in wonder. Every pair of eyes turned to look at the shirtless Spartan halfway to the house. For the second time today, he grinned sheepishly and shrugged as he turned and followed Katara into one of the rooms.

She went through an hour long process of examining his entire body and healing even his sore muscles. As she wrapped up, Roland thanked her and started a conversation. "I met your husband."

Katara raised an eyebrow as if she didn't believe him. "Oh you did?"

"Yes, Korra and I went into the Spirit world. He seemed decent enough." Katara smiled.

"Well, it is nice to know he is still doing something."

Roland wandered back to his old room, but it was empty except for a single bed. Not even Korra's stuff remained. He knit his brow in confusion and went looking for Tenzin.

He entered to courtyard and people were scattered all over, still talking. "Do you have a date for the wedding yet?" Asami asked Korra.

She shook her head as she noticed Roland entering the courtyard. "No, but it won't be long."

She took his arm in hers and followed him as he closed with Tenzin, but Bolin cut him off. "Congrats bro!" He said as he slapped him on the back. The slap was even louder due to the lack of clothing. "I'm just sorry it isn't me marrying her."

Roland shot him a look of I really don't want to go through this right now and Bolin put up his hands in mock defeat. Tenzin was in a conversation with his brother, but Roland was past the point of caring.

"Tenzin, where's my stuff?" He asked.

The airbender looked at him and then smiled warmly. "In there." He pointed to the new building. It wasn't huge, but on the outside it seemed to have at least two rooms. "The Marines placed your other belongings in there as well."

"What is it?" Roland asked with a bit of confusion.

Korra pulled away so she could look at him. "Ours." She said simply.

Roland smiled at the thought. Now he had a life, a girl, and a home. His choice was definitely correct in staying here. "Well that is pretty awesome." He said as he started towards it.

"Oh, Korra!" Tenzin said before they could get far. "Tomorrow, we will be bringing those who lost their bending to you for restoration. Also, the council will want to know about your wedding. It will be an event for the age of the Avatar marrying a non bender."

Korra nodded in agreement. "Maybe it can even help with the last of the hostilities between the equalists and benders."

"I dearly hope so." Tenzin sighed.

"Will you be coming back eventually, Spartan?" Bumi asked him.

Roland shrugged. "I need some rest." He smiled. "With what you just put me through, I think I earned some leave."

"Of course!" Bumi nearly shouted. "But if you want to, the offer always stands."

"Uncle Bumi!" Meelo ran towards the man. "Did you bring me something!"

"Meelo, your uncle gave you a gift three days ago." Tenzin muttered in irritation.

"So!" Meelo cried as he latched onto the general's leg.

Roland just smiled as the two of them turned and started towards their house. Neither cared that is wasn't even a stone's throw away from everyone else, it was theirs to share. "I guess you beat me to it." Mako said as he walked alongside the two.

"To what?" Roland asked.

He smiled at the Spartan. "I'm gonna asked Asami to marry me as well, but it might be awhile. She is taking over her father's business, but without the secret factories and stuff.

Korra smiled at the thought. "You two will be perfect for each other!" She said.

"Sshh!" Mako hushed her. "I haven't told her yet, so keep it quiet."

Roland could only smile as Korra mimicked Meelo by pretending to button her lip shut. "Not a peep out of me."

"I'm sure you two had another good adventure." Mako added. "I'll let you get some rest."

"Thanks." Roland said as he started towards the house once more, but Korra held him back a moment.

"Are we going to be continuing on as the Fire Ferrets?" She asked.

Mako shrugged. "I hope so, but the next season doesn't start for a few months. We'll just play it by ear."

Korra nodded and turned to see Roland's look of minor irritation. "Come on!" She pulled at his arm. "Let's stop wasting time and go see it!"

Roland shook his head, but followed after his girl. The outside looked just like the rest of the air temple buildings, but smaller. "You know, it is going to be busy for the next few weeks." Korra said as she looked at the structure.

"How so?" Roland asked her.

"Well, all the benders over the next few days, and I have been asked to come meet with the Earth King and the Fire Lady soon. I hate flying."

Roland grinned a bit. "With all that travel, you'll probably need a body guard."

Korra's first instinct was to defend her fighting abilities, but then she caught on to what he was implying. "I guess a body guard might be good." She said in a sing song manner. "Do you know any good ones?"

Roland was about to speak when she cut him off. "Bolin might enjoy it. Seeing the world and all. Plus he is a decent fighter. Or maybe that fire bender… Leton I think. He was good, and kinda cute." Roland just looked at her.

"Or you could take Ikki." He added. "If nothing else, she could eavesdrop on everything."

The bush behind them rustled. "Roland! How did you know?" Ikki asked as she made her way into the open.

"It wasn't too hard." He smiled.

"Fine. I'm going to find someone who won't notice me!" Ikki giggled as she ran off.

Roland turned his attention back to Korra. "Where were we?" He asked.

"Good body guards." She reminded him.

"Oh yeah, I know a decent one. He's not a bender, but he knows a thing or two."

Korra raised her eyebrow at him. "You would by chance have a way to contact him, would you? We'd have to have an interview and all of the bothersome stuff to pacify Tenzin."

Roland opened the door. "Actually, I think we could set up and interview right now." He said playfully.

Korra looked him over. "I guess you'll do." She added as she stepped into the house and kissed him passionately.

After a few moments, he broke the kiss, much to her disappointment. "Yeah, and I'm a better fighter than you anyway!" He said as he pulled her tightly to himself.

Korra glared at him "Oh, we'll just see about that." She said mischievously. "Plus I have this." She withdrew his knife from her waist band.

"No, there's no reason to." Roland said to the girl only inches from him. "After all, who killed Amon, and the Spirit, and saved your butt a few times?" Roland took the knife from her gently and dropped it to the wooden floor. It stuck soundly and vibrated with a twang.

"Uh huh…" Korra took on a sort of regal tone. "And who has nearly died in the last twenty four hours?" She asked as she tried to sweep his leg out from under him.

The Spartan didn't falter. "That was a fail." He said to her.

"Find then." She kissed him. "Why don't you show me how it's done?"

After three mad men, the loss of bending, an evil spirit, and Roland's most recent close call, the Avatar kicked her foot back and listened as the door clicked shut to their home.

"It would be a pleasure." Roland whispered into her ear.

One of the most powerful warriors of the human race leaned in yet again to kiss the Avatar. She was his and he was hers, and if they had anything to say about it, that set up would never change at all.

The End

**Tada! Not bad for my second fanfic if I do say so myself. I really hope you have enjoyed reading this as much I as I enjoyed writing it. I'd like to thank mcknight93 for a lot of behind the scenes help towards the middle of the story and for being a great guy to bounce ideas off of. Gotta give credit where it is due. Thanks to the Red vs Blue team for an awesome dialogue that will NEVER get old no matter how often I use it, and thanks to Meeoko and the story I'll follow you home for the idea of Koh as a bad guy. Thanks to all 70 or so of the great reviews I've gotten, you all definitely made it worth writing. A few times I thought of ending the story, it was reviews that kept me going. Also, somehow or another, I got over 10,000 views on this story at this point. I hope I did Halo and Avatar the Legend of Korra some justice in this cross over and for crying out loud, I am SORRY for getting the pistol caliber wrong. I shoot the .45 ACP and I think it is the perfect bullet. I didn't do quite enough research and that is why Roland and Jonah use an M6C that fires the .45 instead of the .50 as it should. There were a few confusions about continuity, but I think they were all resolved eventually. Stay tuned for a possible epilogue, but I have no idea when or really if it will happen. As for a sequel, it'll likely happen, but not for quite a while. I have to see where the entire next season of LOK goes and then go from there. I'd like to maybe write a short story or two, so keep an eye on my profile as well. **

**Thanks again for a great run! **

**-Trey**


	29. Epilouge

**As sort of promised, here's the epilogue. It is written in first person, similar to the prologue. This is still not my stuff. **

**Epilogue **

A cracking noise jolts me awake. My hand settles on my M6C and the night sights dance before my eyes before my mind can take over and lower the pistol. The grip feels so right in my hand as my memories flood back into place and my mind realizes it was just the wind breaking a branch in this strange Fire Nation town. A grin tugged at my cheeks as I slid the pistol back under my pillow and remembered we were on a trip to meet the Fire Lady.

It has been weeks since we returned from fighting Koh. Thankfully, the two Marines, Edmonson and Conley acclimated just fine. They both started working with the Raiders and have become a valuable addition to the team. I tried to sleep, but was now wide awake. The sheets were cool and rustled slightly as I slid my legs over the side of the bed, sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. It felt good to have it short again. Korra had fussed, but long hair is a pain and makes my helmet sit funny.

_Safe_ is all my mind can think at this moment. There is no longer the Covenant hunting me as I hunt them, no instructors coming from behind to drop me from the course, no spirits or mad men, just safety, and the lovely warm bulk in the bed next to me is safe as well.

I leaned back on one elbow to see Korra a bit better. She slept facing me, as usual, and the moonlight always made her look even more gorgeous. Her face felt smooth under my fingers as I brushed them against her mocha tan skin and reached towards her dark brown hair. It was a little coarse compared to many other girls who always tried to have their hair more soft than silk. Korra had been self-conscious of it recently and had been using different things to try to make it softer and more smooth, but I could help but like it a little rougher, just like she is. I watched her bare shoulder rise and fall in the moonlight as she dreamed of who knows what.

Carefully, I ran my fingers through her hair slowly until her eyelids fluttered slightly. Not wanting to wake her, I drew my hand back and watched as she sighed happily and returned to a deeper sleep. For some reason, a new thought entered my mind. _Marriage._ We were counting the days. The council had happily approved the wedding of the Avatar to a nonbender with the hope that it would quench the final hostilities between the factions and at first it seemed as if it had.

However, now threats were coming in about a fight and honestly, the wedding could be one of the more dangerous things we do and I can't wear my armor. I would have been content with a small ceremony, but it is important to Korra and I owe her a lot. I'd never admit it, but she did save my life before she even knew me, and heck, it's not every day you'll find an attractive girl who also enjoys a good sparring match.

Interestingly, she and I have yet to "do the deed" or whatever you want to call it. Spartans weren't exactly educated in the process of love making, and Korra with al of her Avatar training didn't know much either. After a bit of discussion, she and I agreed to wait until our marriage. We knew neither of us would want a gift from the other, so what better gift than ourselves. Plus it made the marriage that much more to look forward to.

My mind slipped to think back of Jonah for a moment. Without him, that monster Tarrlok would have been able to ruin all of this. I still have thoughts of "what if" but I know Jonah would hate me for it. He chose to die honorably on his terms in the only way he knew how, fighting. Hopefully it would be awhile, but I don't think Korra would object to naming one of our kids after my partner.

A cloud slid over the moon, dimming the entire bed room, but my enhancements meant nothing really changed for me. The darkness made me feel even safer. In training, the shadows were always our friends. You could hide yourself on an exercise, nurse an injury, and try for a bit of sleep in the relative safety of the dark. I always wondered how much our instructors let slide, but it didn't really matter. The shadows were always our friend on missions as well. I couldn't remember how many times some unwary foe wandered within inches of me, only to have his life ended moments later. To my mind, shadows always meant safety.

But shadows were darkness, and that caused me to think of Koh. His black scales and blood were frightening, and the changing of his faces had been unnerving. Because of him, I had nearly lost Korra again, and his blind followers nearly killed me.

With a deep breath, I let my mind go blank for a moment. Too many memories for right now. A second deep breath, but I still was to awake to lie down. My thoughts shifted to Mako and Asami. The two of them were also engaged to be married. Sooner than us in fact. Their wedding would also be controversial for a few reasons, but the largest was that Mako, the kid who grew up on the street, would be taking charge of one of the most profitable industries in the world.

Not long after their wedding, Korra and I would have to go to Omashu, and then to Ba Sing Sae for diplomatic meetings, and then we would only be a month away from our own marriage. If everything went well, there would be a honeymoon, and hopefully the world we leave us alone, but I am too much of a realist to believe that. So far the only downside to marrying Korra would be the whole she's the protector of the world and all and people just don't like to stay peaceful.

Again, too much to think about and another deep breath. With all my shifting around and even touch, Korra finally woke up to my breathing of all things. "What's the matter?" She moaned softly as her arms snaked their way around my upper body and her chin rested on my left shoulder. I felt her betrothal necklace digging into my shoulder blade a bit, but no feeling could have been better.

It was hard to focus at first because no matter how often it happens, I love this girl and my heart skips a beat when she acts like this. "We have a lot in the next three months." I finally whispered.

Korra sighed. "We do, but who cares right now?" She gently started to pull me back to the bed. "Let's just focus on us and get some sleep."

After a moment of resistance, I relented to her tugging and relaxed back into the bed. She immediately curled up into me and gave me a quick kiss. "Goodnight." She whispered sleepily.

I draped my arm over her and pulled the blanket up with the other. I settled my chin on her forehead and replied with "Sleep well."

She surprised me by pulling away a bit to look me in the eyes. I love her eyes. The pair of deep blue pools swirling around a dark pupil is easy to drown in and they stand out even more against her dark skin. "I will." She assured me. "Because I know you are right next to me…." A broad smile crossed her lips. I love it when she smiles, it adds so much to her complexion that sometimes I just want her to stay that way. "and no one can't take on a mighty Spartan." Her lips quivered a bit as she spoke, those silky, tan, gorgeous lips and whether she realized it or not, she was asking to be kissed.

I gave up waiting and cupped the back of her head with my hand and pulled her in tightly for a kiss. She moaned softly as our lips intertwined lovingly. With my free hand, I pulled her as close as she could be, until I could feel her heart beat resounding within my own chest. As she broke the kiss, I sucked on her bottom lip for a moment as my hand mingled itself with her hair.

"Sleep." She reminded me.

I didn't reply, but instead kissed her for as long as we both could stand before relaxing once more. I stroked her hair as she quickly fell back asleep. Korra was right, the issues to come could be thought of later. For now, Korra is a safe, she is with me, and I am the luckiest Spartan alive, no matter what anyone else says.

**There you go. That should be about it for this story. I named the two Marines, and while I didn't go into them much, they will be fine. Mako is going to be in charge of Sato industries with Asami, and Roland and Korra have a lot ahead of them. I did set myself up for a sequel, but no promises. Please let me know how you think this story was by reviewing. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I read a good review on my work, so seriously, if you liked it, please review! You might just motivate me to write a sequel….**

**-Trey **


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